


Song Of Silence

by Symphoenae



Series: Soul Song AUniverse [1]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Dark Magic doesnt exist, F/M, He doesn't deserve this, Human AU, Lotsa feels but it's both good and bad!, Mental Illness, Modern AU, Soul Song AU, Teenage Issues, Trauma, aka magic is minimal but everyone has a song that reflects their soul and its magic, but its still magic!!!, give callum a hug please... i beg you......, lotta angst, medium burn i think, my poor boy, the Primals probably dont either
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-23
Updated: 2020-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:22:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 33
Words: 110,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22856173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Symphoenae/pseuds/Symphoenae
Summary: Music. Music was always coming from somewhere else, for as long as he could remember. As a young child, he would constantly hear two songs the most. His mother, Sarai, would have a specific sound and song always following her. He remembered being lulled to sleep by it so often, night after night. His step father, Harrow, had a unique song too. It was his own, and even young, he knew that each song he heard was meant to be for the person it radiated out from. Life was good for awhile. Then his baby brother was born, and a new song entered his life. It was confusing, yet expected at the same time. He never truly questioned the way his life went until that moment.His name was Callum, and he had no soul song.And there was a girl in the woods who defied all of what he knew.
Relationships: Amaya/Janai (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Series: Soul Song AUniverse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1721407
Comments: 310
Kudos: 329





	1. Can I Exist

**Author's Note:**

> Me? Writing a multi-chapter fic that isn't a shitpost? God you better hope I actually finish this. Im trying my best but my attention span is SHIT
> 
> Anyways if you've been following the one-shots I've been writing then you might have been expecting this really. I've decided that I can do more with the soul song stuff. It's fun and it's relevant to me! So maybe I'll have enough will power to write this to the end. But we'll see. I'm motivated more by interest from readers tbh. So reviewing is the best bet to prod me to continue. I'm a lump.
> 
> Also since this is a massively musical fic, I'll probably be linking shit from my SoundCloud as aids. I'm fully committed to composing stuff just for this fic, for fictional characters. I'LL FUCKING DO IT. Plus it would be important to the story at some point. Yote. Enjoy this mess I guess

_ Music. Music was always coming from somewhere else, for as long as he could remember. As a young child, he would constantly hear two songs the most. His mother, Sarai, would have a specific sound and song always following her. He remembered being lulled to sleep by it so often, night after night. His step father, Harrow, had a unique song too. It was his own, and even young, he knew that each song he heard was meant to be for the person it radiated out from. Life was good for awhile. Then his baby brother was born, and a new song entered his life. It was confusing, yet expected at the same time. He never truly questioned the way his life went until that moment. _

_ Sarai sat him down one day, while his father tended to his new brother. In truth, he’d come to her first, asking about why she had a song, why everyone had a song, following them all the time. She’d looked at him confused, telling him that yes, everyone had a song, a song that represented their very soul- proof that magic was real. But those songs were secret, able to be controlled by the person they belonged to. No one kept their songs out in the open, and if they did, it was only for a few minutes in a moment of intimacy with another person. He shouldn’t be able to hear their songs at all, much less all the time. _

_ So he was an oddity. The way his mother had reacted to his confession spooked him into never mentioning it again, to anyone else. It had clearly unnerved her that he could hear her song no matter what she did. He could hear anyone’s song without much of a second thought. _

_ Later that same day, she told him that as much as his gift was interesting, it was an invasion of everyone’s privacy- she knew he couldn’t help it, but she reaffirmed his decision by advising him never to talk about what he could do. So he listened. _

_ And then, later on, she died. _

_ He was left with his step father and brother. The absence of the song he’d heard the most was incredibly jarring to him, and he ended up being more distant for the rest of his time in the family of three. Two songs were left, but that wasn’t enough to heal the hole in his heart that the absence of Sarai’s song left. _

_ Then, in a tragic accident, his step dad died too. _

_ He couldn’t take it anymore. Left orphaned, he and his brother Ezran fell under the care of their mother’s sister, their aunt, Amaya. They were forced to leave their childhood home and move in with her. The only song he had left was his brother’s. Amaya had a song, of course, but he couldn’t bear to hear it. It sounded too much like his mother’s, but not quite the same, and it tore him apart all over again. He began to learn how to suppress his ability. He practiced blocking out the songs of the souls around him, even his brother’s. He couldn’t take it. Every song he had loved and needed the most had left, and he couldn’t bear to have that last song ripped from him as well, so he cut it off himself. But he still remembers. A faint memory of the past. _

_ When he and Ezran moved to live with their aunt, they made a few new friends. Their names were Soren and Claudia, and they were silent. _

_ Everyone was silent now. _

_ His world had always been full of noise, melody, rhythm, all unique and unmatched, but now there was deafening silence. He wasn’t sure if he liked this outcome, but ultimately decided that this fate was better than experiencing his old world while it crumbles around him. So, they were silent. _

_ Soren was never one to talk about soul songs, but his sister was quite obsessed with them. She’d talk to him for hours about how she loved the concept, how wonderful magic was existing in their world. As their friendship continued, Claudia eventually allowed him to hear her song. He was surprised that he could hear it at all when she did- he’d spent so long at that point suppressing them all, it didn’t occur to him that the consent and determination of the song’s owner to share it could override his blocks. It reminded him of the old days, and made him realize how much he missed it. _

_ He still regrets running off on Claudia that day. _

_ He avoided her for days, and tried to avoid everyone for days. He knew this wasn’t right, but he just got so overwhelmed over hearing someone’s song again. He just wanted to hear his parents’ songs again. Hearing Claudia’s just reminded him that he could never do that again. It hurt, but it wasn’t her fault. She didn’t know. She didn’t know why he had been acting like this, and that pushed him enough to get up and make things right. _

_ So he told her. _

_ He told Claudia about his ability, what he’d gone through, everything. And he apologized for any negative feelings he may have caused her by running off like how he did. And to his surprise, she forgave him. She understood, and she became very interested in him. Well, more interested in his special ability. Like an excitable puppy, she would ask him so many questions about it, point to random people or animals and ask what he heard, and every time he had to remind her he didn’t do that anymore. He didn’t listen anymore. It wasn’t a gift, it was a curse. _

_ Little did he know. _

_ As the years continued, Soren and Claudia became almost siblings to him and Ezran. They were like their own family now, they attended the same school, they did almost everything together. And he almost felt whole again. Almost, until he decided to share his soul song with his brother and friends. _

_ And there was nothing. _

_ Nothing came about. His friends around him looked at him with pity, and his skin burned. He was an oddity,he’d known that from the start, but he felt so helpless and lost. Never in the world’s history had anything like this been recorded. He was too unique. He was wrong. _

_ His name was Callum, and he had no soul song. _

* * *

“Do you think the best music artists of our time sample their own soul songs and use them in their hit singles without anyone suspecting a thing?”

To say that Callum was having a rather off day was an understatement. His sleep the night before had been rough, his morning gray, his school day annoying. And now he was walking home with Claudia, who still nagged him with soul song questions and theories after all of these years. You’d think she would have run out of things to prod him about a long time ago.

“I have no idea, Claudia. It’s hardly an important thing to think about anyways.” He replied with a wary sigh, rubbing a gloved hand across his face.

“Well, if anyone would know, it’d be you. I know you block your special ability, but just think about all of the cool stuff we could discover if you just took the blocks off!” Claudia persisted.

Callum let out a more gruff sigh. His eyes ached, his head throbbed, his grip on his blocks were weak at best. The less sleep he got, the harder it was to garrison his mental walls, and this persistent nagging wasn’t helping. “Clauds, please. Lay off. You know how I feel about my power. You’ve known for years. Why would my mind change suddenly? It stays off.”

Considering just how long their friendship went back, the two of them had gotten more than enough time to discuss his ability on a more personal level. Callum had told her multiple times during these conversations that his power was dirty, an invasion of a person’s privacy, and it didn’t matter what Claudia wanted to use it for to learn, none of it was worth violating another person like that. He had an inkling that Claudia’s ever-living curiosity was the reason she never dropped the subject. Sometimes it made him feel like that’s all she ever cared about when it came to him.

But Claudia’s face dropped. She frowned, regret sparkling in her eyes and she stopped him and made him look at her. “I’m sorry, Callum. I know my undying interest combats heavily with what you want for yourself. I’m trying to get better, I swear. It’s just hard for me to not run my mouth.”

Callum rolled his eyes, but smirked nonetheless. “Alright, big mouth, apology accepted. Though I do know better than most about how hard it is to get you to shut up.”

Claudia scoffed and slapped her hand against his shoulder. “Rude!” They began walking again, before she continued. “Also, spill. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you’ve been off today. What’s wrong, Cal?”

Damn. And just when he was thinking he could get home and collapse in peace. “I just… didn’t sleep that well last night, that’s all. And school sucked as usual. Art History is hard enough on a good day. God forbid I try to focus when I’m running on severely broken sleep.”

Claudia frowned at him again. “Another night? I got you those melatonin pills, why aren’t you using those? They’re supposed to help with sleepless nights. I hate seeing you like this.”

He sighed a third time. “It’s just… I have nightmares sometimes. It’s always the same thing, too. Me, in my body, running through the Midnight Forest in the dark and alone. I never know why I’m running, but I always get the sense of anger and guilt. Something strong and negative. There’s no real light other than the slight amount of stars that can reach me through the treetops. The moon is always missing, and I still don’t know why that’s such a prominent feature. The dream never really goes anywhere either. I always wake up before anything else happens. It’s just me, running alone in the forest in the dead of night, no light to guide me, and it’s eerily silent. Too quiet. It unnerves the hell out of me, and I get afraid to try and go back to sleep.” He stops, realizing he’d been rambling and began to backpedal with a curse on the tip of his tongue. “Sorry. You didn’t ask for a research paper.”

“No no, It’s okay. It sounds like you needed to get that off your chest.” Claudia said quickly, working to fend off a negative reaction from Callum- he usually went off on himself if he revealed too much of something. “It is odd, though. The dream. The moon is never there? One of the crowning traits of that forest is that the moon’s light always manages to get past the trees. It’s like a magic thing. Magic we don’t understand or possess. I wonder what it could mean, that the moon is just not there in your dream.”

Callum knew another rant was coming. “Claudia, please no more TwitLongers about random stuff you hyper-fixate on. It’s just a dream. It probably doesn’t mean anything.”

“ _ Probably! _ ” Claudia exclaimed in reply, jabbing a finger into his arm. “A probably isn’t a certainty! Magic is real, who says this dream isn’t something related to it! There’s still so much we don’t understand about magic, all we really know is the soul song stuff. Plus, the whole running-alone-in-the-Midnight-Forest thing is concerning as hell and you know it. At night! You know predators are around at night! What if this is a glimpse into your future! You could  _ die!! _ ”

Callum stared at her with exasperation in his eyes. “Seriously?”

“Nothing is more important to me than the safety of my friends. So yes, seriously. This could be a major issue!”

Claudia kept going on, and Callum was at the end of his patience. Like he’d done so many times before, he tuned Claudia out and continued his walk home. He just needed to rest and he’d be back to normal. He just hoped he could evade the claws of that dumb dream again. The world had beat him down enough.

* * *

Dinner was uneventful as usual. Amaya wasn’t home again, as her job required her to travel a lot. While it did make the house feel that much more lonely and empty while she was away, there was one pro to it. It took less effort to hold his blocks in place. All he had to do was focus on blocking Ezran’s song. Well, Ezran’s and their pet bulldog Bait. Yes, even animals had soul songs. But Bait was in the other room, and Callum had found that the soul song of an animal was much less powerful and more quiet, therefore way easier to block out. So as far as he was concerned, it was an easy day.

“...We were learning about the history of soul songs in class today, Callum.” Ezran started cautiously, knowing the unstable path he tread going into this subject.

_ Throb.  _ Callum didn’t want to blow off his little brother- Ezran was the most important thing to him. But he knew if he wasn’t careful, his less than normal state might push him over the limits, if his terrible headache had anything to say about it. So he swallowed, set his fork down, and forced a smile.

“Oh yeah? How interesting.”

Ezran nodded, an unsure smile on his face to reply to Callum’s. “Yeah. There was a new teacher today too. Mr. Runaan. I think he’s our neighbor that just moved in a week ago.”

_ Throb. _ That caught Callum off guard. He’d forgotten about the new neighbors. The house a few over from theirs. It had been empty for the longest time, and everyone on the block had just assumed it’d never be filled. But the world was always full of surprises, wasn’t it?

“Huh. Well, you better behave well in class, mister. He’ll know where you live soon enough.” Callum said, taking in Ezran’s mildly frightened expression, and continued hastily. “It’s rude to not introduce yourself to your neighbors. Aunt Amaya will probably have us go over with a gift when she comes back. He’s not going to stalk you out, relax.”

A pause. “I… I asked him if he knew anything about people not having soul songs.”

There it was.  _ Throb.  _ Callum felt his grip on his emotions beginning to slip. He didn’t understand, hadn’t he told Ezran not to ask about that for him to anyone anymore? Why didn’t he listen? Why couldn’t he respect his request for once?

“And?” Callum bit out with clenched teeth. “What did this man say?”

He could see Ezran visibly gulp across the table. The last bit of rationality in Callum screamed at him to stop, that he was scaring his baby brother and that was the last thing he ever wanted, but the floodgates were cracking, and he was so very tired, and his head ached, and his blocks were threatening to crumble…

“He… he had nothing. He said he never heard of anything of the sort. I got no answers.” Ezran confessed, shoulders sagging in defeat.

_ Throb.  _ “Yeah… As usual.” Callum replied, his eyes like stone. “I have homework. I should start on it. Please finish your dinner, and remember to put your plate away in the dishwasher when you’re done.”

As Callum stood, plates in hand, he felt Ezran’s eyes burning into his back. He ignored the feeling as he put his dishes away, and turned to go up the stairs, when a call stopped him.

“I didn’t reveal anything about you being the one without a soul song! I just want to help you, Callum! I can’t help without understanding why you’re like this in the first place!” Ezran blurted, slapping a hand over his mouth, but it was too late. What was said was said.

Callum steeled himself, and looked over his shoulder with a cold frown, eyes dull and lost. “I don’t need to understand why I’m like this, Ez. Understanding would do nothing. I’m still just an oddity at the end of the day. Nothing more. I’ll never be anything more.”

“You’ve just been so distant all the time… for as long as I can remember… Aunt Amaya tells me stories sometimes, you know. About how full of life you used to be back before…” Ezran sniffled. “Back before our parents died. I just want my brother back.”

_ Throb. Throb. THROB. _

Callum continued up the stairs without another word.

* * *

Callum hated himself, if that wasn’t clear enough just by looking at him. All he’d ever wanted to be was what he was supposed to be, just like everyone else. He wanted to have a soul song. He wanted to be normal. But he was anything but that. He was an oddity.

He used that word a lot. It was ingrained into his memory, ever since the first day he realized what he was. An abnormal human being with a slimy, invasive mental trait who lacked the one thing  _ everything  _ had. A Soul Song. The one thing everyone could bond together with, be proud of, something. Everyone knew who they were because of their song. It was shameful, really, that it took Callum so long to realize he was different. After living so long hearing music everywhere, he had failed to realize he never heard anything coming from himself. Not a single noise, sound, or note. Nothing. He should have known a long time ago.

He’d lied to Ezran as well- it was Friday, he had no homework. Callum just had to get out of there before he lost his temper on his baby brother, who definitely didn’t deserve that treatment. But his words had still hurt.

_ ‘You’ve just been so distant all the time… for as long as I can remember…’ _

_ ‘I just want my brother back.’ _

Callum felt like he wanted to cry. This day really couldn’t get any worse for him. He never asked to be different, to be abnormal. His life had never amounted to anything and it was suffocating him, the knowledge that he was nothing special. Nothing at all.

So he ran.

* * *

The forest was just as dark as he was expecting. Then again, he was assuming that this was a dream. He was running again, like usual, in the dark, the moon absent in the sky, and he was relying only on sheer luck and guessing to avoid trees that would stand in his way. Then again, dreams never really made full sense. It was dream logic that he was making it through the darkness without running smack into a tree trunk and damaging himself.

But this time it was different. The dream was different. He could hear something- which gave him pause. The trees stood still, there was no wind to shake their branches, no rustle of leaves, not even any inkling of life being out and about. And yet, he could hear something. Something rhythmic, something familiar.

Was this even a dream at all?

Callum followed it. He had to follow it, before he woke up in his bed, having fallen asleep after a hard mental beating stemming from a bad day. He didn’t want to lose this. It was a surprise, a bump on the normal routine of his daily life. He craved it. He needed to know.

He found himself panting heavily as he tore through the Midnight Forest, towards the sound that whispered taunting in his ears. The closer he got, the more he realized what he was hearing. But that… that wasn’t possible. He had his blocks up, he knew he had his blocks up. This wasn’t a song he’d heard before either, there was no reason for the person it belonged to to be consenting to share it. That person probably didn’t know he even existed! This made no sense!

Finally, at last, Callum broke through the thick darkness of the heavily wooded expanse and landed haphazardly in a clearing. As he did, he realized two important things. One, the moon had never been gone in the first place. It was just a New Moon.

And two, that there was a girl in the woods that defied all he knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm taking to making a playlist for the fic itself on Youtube. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ  
> (No spoilers! There's only the one song in there right now since there's only one chapter :>)
> 
> So yeah. Here's some social links:  
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> DISCORD: https://discord.gg/nM7XTfQ  
> (Please do note that when joining the server you have to post in the #introductions channel first so I can assign you a proper role and then you'll have access to the main chat~)


	2. Mama's Gun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stepping around herself in an elongated circle, as if she was dancing. Her steps were certain, coordinated, as a symphony of flutes and harps swirled around her. From her point in the clearing, the New Moon hung directly overhead- dark and cold, unlike the radiant white that her hair glowed. As she continued in her routine, Callum managed to see that her eyes were closed tightly, that this girl had no idea she had an audience. Her song pulsated and swelled, like a heartbeat, the glow in her hair pulsating along with it. And her voice swelled along with it as she hummed an extra vocal part.
> 
> She was beautiful, in every sense of the word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter names might be confusing, but in reality they're just the titles of the songs that connect to the chapter from the Soul Song AU playlist. Just a fun fact.
> 
> I'm on Spring Break currently so that's honestly the only thing allowing me to crank out chapters this quickly. I'll probably slow down a lot in the near future. Sorry about that. But college is more important at the end of the day. I gotta be responsible at some point :P

There was a girl in the woods that defied everything he knew.

Stepping around herself in an elongated circle, as if she was dancing. Her steps were certain, coordinated, as a symphony of flutes and harps swirled around her. From her point in the clearing, the New Moon hung directly overhead- dark and cold, unlike the radiant white that her hair glowed. As she continued in her routine, Callum managed to see that her eyes were closed tightly, that this girl had no idea she had an audience. Her song pulsated and swelled, like a heartbeat, the glow in her hair pulsating along with it. And her voice swelled along with it as she hummed an extra vocal part.

She was beautiful, in every sense of the word.

Callum really hadn’t been expecting his dream to go in this direction. And why now? What was different? Why was he dreaming of meeting a girl in the Midnight Forest that he’d never met, a girl that had a soul song so powerful it could bypass his mental blocks? Well, this was a dream, wasn’t it? Maybe his mental blocks didn’t work when he was asleep.

He continued to stand there, enthralled, as the stranger before him kept going in her little ritual. Her soul song began to grow more intense, too powerful, like it was collapsing in on itself with its own strength, she stopped dancing and stood still. With an outstretched hand, she reached up to the sky, a finger and thumb positioned in a way Callum could only describe as holding something, but nothing was there. He peered with more focus, watching as her closed eyes squeezed shut tighter as if she, too, were focusing. Then, the glowing light that was situated in her hair flowed down her neck, across her arm, and finally pooling into the tips of those two positioned fingers. The light glowed as its color changed from a vibrant white to a radiating black, and then solidified. And, almost like a strike of lightning, the soul song that surrounded the area suddenly pulled back into the small object into her hands.

Callum realized another two things. One, that he’d never been able to do that- detect a soul song like it physically took up space. That was new. That was also scary, to think that his abilities still had hidden facets that could get him into even more trouble. Two, what he’d witnessed just now was a completely intimate moment and he’d invaded. Dream or not, thinking about that fact made him violently uncomfortable. He’d just gone against everything he’d grown up to stand by. Oh, he was really going to lay into himself when he woke up later.

Movement from the forest girl snapped him out of his little tangent. He could see her still in the darkness, despite the primary light source having left. She was peering at the small object in her fingers, studying it. A surprising little fact that Callum noticed was that her hair was still bleach white as if it was her natural color. He’d never met anyone with that color of hair before.

Well, he had to give it to this dream. He’d never experienced something like this that took his breath away like this whole sequence did.

No, wait, his breath was really gone. He’d been so entranced that he’d forgotten to breathe!

Unfortunately for Callum, as he finally remembered to breathe, his less-than-subtle gasp for air was loud enough to alert the stranger he’d been watching. Oh, he’d been creepy now, hadn’t he? And why was this dream going on for so long?

Her head whipped around slightly, so that she could look in his direction from the corner of her eye. Her stance was filled with stiffness, which he really couldn’t blame. He never liked people walking into his personal space without announcing their presence either- it made him anxious. He stayed deathly still, unsure of what to do about the situation he was in now, when the girl turned her head back to the original focus of her interest.

“You look rather awful, don’t you?”

Wait. What?

Callum did a double take. “Excuse me?”

The girl let out an exasperated sigh, turning fully to face him now. “You. You look awful. Probably the darkest circles under someone’s eyes I’ve ever seen. Have you ever heard of this thing called sleeping, boy? It’s a wonderful concept, maybe you should try it out sometime.”

Callum didn’t like the way she called him ‘boy’. “Yknow, most people don’t go up to random strangers and talk about how hideous they look. It’s something called ‘rude’.”

“Big talk coming from a weirdo that was watching me do my thing in the middle of an empty forest! Why is someone like you out here this far anyways?” The girl snapped back, hastily shoving whatever she’d created earlier into her pant pocket.

“Blame your stupid soul song! I could hear it all the way from the edge of the woods! Keep that stuff to yourself!” Part of Callum registered that arguing with a dream-created stranger was stupid and pointless, but here he was, doing it anyways. What was with this girl?

The girl stiffened even more, eyes blown wide in shock. “My soul song? What do you mean you could hear it from the forest’s edge? I was keeping it to myself! You shouldn’t have been able to hear that!”

_ Shit.  _ So the theory that his mental blocks did not, in fact, work in dreams, was proven correct. Maybe it had to do with the fact he was recharging during that point. Not conscious enough to keep them running. Almost like how he was earlier that day, with how tired he had been. Well, that was good to know at least.

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to explain that since this is a dream and it doesn’t even matter.” Callum sighed, rubbing his hand over his eyes. He missed the even more confused look on the girl’s face at the mention of a dream. “Look. I’m kind of weird. I was born with the ability to hear everyone’s soul songs, all the time, no matter what they did. I learned early on that doing that was a major invasion of everyone’s privacy, so I started to learn to block that ability. I guess because this is a dream, I’m asleep and not conscious enough to keep those mental blocks working. So I ended up hearing yours. Not sure how your song was powerful enough to reach that far to the edges of the forest, but it’s pointless for me to ask questions.”

The girl seemed to think something over for a moment, before giving him a reply. “Right. A dream. Of course.” She paused. “That’s an interesting story you have there, though. How do I know you’re not lying, and you’re really just a creepy guy in the woods stalking an innocent teenage girl?”

Callum looked at her funny. “Seriously?” His turn to pause. “Your song. Flutes and harps, I think. A swaying melody that sounds like it came out of a fantasy fairytale. You were humming an extra vocal part along with it that added even more depth to it. It was beautiful.”

“Ooh, calling me beautiful on the first meeting? You really know how to treat a girl.” She teased, making Callum realize the weight of his words. Her teasing smirk dropped after another second, though. “You weren’t lying. You did hear my song. So… everything you told me is true. I swear I had my own blockers up, and you heard me anyways. Interesting… And a little unsettling, if I’m honest. But I suppose you can’t help yourself now, can you?”

Callum’s demeanor took on a more defeated tone after that. “I’m sorry. I should know better. I always got punished by karma when I didn’t listen to my lesson.”

The girl frowned, her brow furrowing at his confession. “Punished? You weren’t abused, were you? I’ll have to have a few words with CPS and another few choice words to with your parents if that’s the case.”

“You’ll have to go visit them in the afterlife, then. Your choice words should be with me if you’d feel so strongly about a stranger. They died when I was young. I was lost without their songs, it was around that time I decided to block the rest of the world out. My mother first, a few weeks after I told her of my ability. My fath-- stepfather a few months after. Like I said. Karma.”

Her frown only deepened. “You… you think it was your fault?”

Callum sighed and nodded silently. This was the most he’d ever opened up to someone in a very long time, and it was with a dream-stranger of all people. As far as he was concerned, the girl in front of him wasn’t even real. Though it would be a funny story to tell Ezran in the morning, he supposed.

“Hey. Listen… um… what’s your name?” The girl pipped up.

_ Huh. Guess we are playing a game of questions.  _ “Callum. Not that it matters really.”

“Would you stop saying that? Putting yourself down so much isn’t good for you. And listen, Callum, what happened to your parents was definitely not your fault. It was just a bad stroke of luck. I’m sorry for your loss, but I know what it’s like. My parents died too.” The girl said, tone softer than it had been before.

That last bit surprised Callum- this dream girl had a really well thought-out backstory. Where was his brain getting this? “You asked me for my name, but I don’t have anything to call you. So, if we’re going to stand here in the middle of the Midnight Forest like idiots and play twenty questions, it’s my turn. What’s your name, mystery dream-girl?”

“Rayla. My name’s Rayla.” Rayla answered without missing a beat. “Now that you mention it, we could actually sit down instead of stand. The grass here is pretty soft!”

Callum watched as she dropped down to a sit without another word, looking up at him expectantly. He shrugged, before moving to join her in the grass. “So… I explained myself. Do you mind explaining yourself? What were you doing out here, dancing to your soul song, which was far too powerful from normal, by the way. Why was your hair glowing, and what is that thing you made? That isn’t any magic I’ve ever seen before. Humans are only supposed to his soul songs as their piece of magic.”

Rayla nodded. “Normally, you’d be right, but if your ability is any clue, you should know by now that not everyone is normal. Just like you have an extra ability, so do I. My bodily energy always seems to swell with the moon- no matter what phase it’s in. I normally just deal with the power surge, tough it out, you know? But sometimes it makes me too restless, and I have to get it out. So I do my little ritual, the excess energy I pull from the moon reflecting first in my hair, until I can get myself resonating with my own soul well enough to push the energy out fully. Then it solidifies and creates these.” She paused, fishing the object from before out of her pocket and into Callum’s open palm.

He stared at it with a raised eyebrow. “It’s… a marble? A black marble. You just create marbles at your fingertips?”

Rayla laughed. “No, you dummy. It looks like a marble, I guess, but that’s not what it is at all. If I’m being quite honest, I don’t really know what it is. I’d call it more of a crystalized form of my soul’s energy. The soul is a powerful thing, you know. It’s why we’re even alive. It might just be the key to figuring out more magic in the world, the prime source of it all. Who knows! All we have now is our soul songs, and that’s okay too.” She said, giving him a sideways smile. “Here. Don’t be shy, close your eyes and put it up to your forehead. Just trust me for a second.”

Callum looked over at her incredulously, as if questioning her logic of trusting a stranger, but complied anyways. Closing his eyes, he held the tiny orb carefully between his fingers and pressed his forehead slightly against it. Immediately, his ears and mind were filled once again with Rayla’s soul song, flowing and pulsating through him with such unapologetic power. He jolted back, staring with wide eyes at the orb still held gently in his fingers. He whipped his head back to face Rayla, eyes still bulging.

“Wh- That’s your song! But it’s not attached to you! How is that possible?!”

Rayla laughed again. “Were you not payin’ attention, Callum? That little thing was made with the excess energy from my soul. It may not be ‘attached’ to me, but that’s still my soul you’re holding there. Well, a little part of it, anyways. There’s really no other use for these things, at least not that I’ve found. I have dozens of them in a little box in my room back home.” She stopped suddenly, giving him another side smile. Callum decided that smiles suited her. “Tell you what- how about you keep that one? It’s on me.”

Callum shook his head with a knowing smirk, but put it in his pocket anyways. “It’s not going to matter, miss dream-girl, but I’ll humor you anyways.”

He missed the frown that returned to Rayla’s face at the mention of the dream again. The two then fell into a silence, neither one of them knowing what else to talk about. All that there was now was the slight whisper of the breeze in their ears, and the tiny, watchful eyes of the stars in the sky. Finally, after a few minutes, Rayla spoke again.

“Well, as much as this was fun, I think I should be heading home, and so should you. My dads’ll be worried about what’s keeping me so long, and I’m sure you have someone waiting for you too. Get up, come on.”

Rayla outstretched her hand as she stood to Callum, offering to help him up. He accepted, and he noted that Rayla was surprisingly strong for a human. Well, a dream human. He had to remember that none of this was real. But as he stood, he ended up stumbling, and Rayla had to act fast to catch him before he completely toppled over.

“Oi! What’s the idea?!” Rayla yelped.

Callum let out a chuckle. “Ah, well, even in my dreams I guess I can’t escape the consequences of my actions. You said I looked awful earlier, and while it was still rude, you were right. I haven’t exactly been sleeping very well these past few days, and it’s catching up to me now. Karma always finds me in the end.”

Rayla let out a frustrated groan. “Of all the people I could’ve met tonight, it had to be someone so self-destructive… Alright, I’m gonna lift you, are you okay with that?”

“Well--”

“Too bad! I’m doing it anyways. I can’t just leave you here.”

Without allowing him any room to argue, Rayla suddenly scooped him up into her arms with a grunt, and began to walk out of the clearing and into the thick woods. Callum didn’t even bother to struggle- if he’d learned anything about this dream girl in the short time he’d had with her was that she was really stubborn and did whatever she wanted.

“Where’s your house, Callum? ...Callum? Hey! Don’t fall asleep dummy!” Rayla’s voice scolded him, but it suddenly sounded like it was extremely far away.

Callum laughed in her arms. “Don’t be stupid, Rayla, this is a dream! How can I… fall asleep…. In a dream….?”

That was the last thing he remembered.

* * *

Callum woke up in his bed in probably the most uncomfortable position he’d ever fallen asleep in. His neck was screaming bloody murder, and he supposed he deserved it for falling asleep so early last night. While his eyes still stung with the tell-tale sign of missing sleep, he felt a little better. He supposed he’d take what he could get at this rate. It was better than nothing.

The sunlight streamed in through his window through the curtains, spurring him to actually sit up. He noticed that his sense of balance was a little off center, something that happened to him sometimes if he slept wrong. Callum didn’t know what caused it, but it spelled out a day of annoying vertigo. Great. He really just couldn’t have one good day this week could he?

Callum didn’t even know what time it was. He assumed it was still rather early, since Ezran had a habit of waking him up himself if he slept in too long. The boy refused to make breakfast for himself, he insisted that Callum do it, or at least help him do it. Maybe Ezran was just being amazingly considerate today.

A knock at his door startled him, and his door opened without him saying to the person on the other side that they could. Callum had assumed that the culprit was Ezran, since Bait couldn’t actually knock on people’s door, but the sight in front of him surprised him.

“Oh! Aunt Amaya! I didn’t know you came back. Um… Good morning?”

_ ‘You’ve been sleeping in for awhile, Callum. It’s almost noon. I made Ezran breakfast so he wouldn’t disturb you, since I know how rough nights can be for you sometimes. But you need to eat something. Sleep well?’  _ Amaya signed with a warm smile on her face.

Callum shrugged. “Eh, it could’ve been better I guess, but I’ll take whatever sleep I can get at this point. I certainly feel better than I did yesterday, I can tell you that.” A pause. “Oh! And I had this super weird dream. I was out in the middle of the Midnight Forest, and there was a girl there with me. I think her name was Rayla? It was a really oddly detailed dream, now that I think about it. I’ll explain more of it later, I wanted to share it with Ezran too, I think he’d find it amusing.”

Callum faltered at the look Amaya was giving him. It was unfamiliar, and suspicious.

_ ‘Right. It was just a dream. Of course. I’ll wait with Ezran for you downstairs, Claudia came by earlier and dropped off some jelly tarts. A gift for you, she said. She hoped you would feel better. She’ll be glad to know that her hopes are true. Though I can’t promise that all of the jelly tarts will still be there by the time you come downstairs. You know how that boy Ezran is.’ _

Callum laughed with a nod. “Alright, give me a few minutes to get ready for the day. I believe in you, Aunt Amaya. Protect those tarts with your life.”

Amaya smirked with a shake of her head, turning and closing the door behind her. When she did, Callum’s smile dropped as he stared at his closed door with a scrutinizing look. Why was everyone saying that? ‘It was just a dream, right’, was he missing something? First the Rayla girl in his dream was talking like that, and now Aunt Amaya? Did something happen last night, and he’d done something incredibly stupid and couldn’t remember it? Did Ezran have some blackmail video on his phone now that he didn’t know about?

He sighed; he’d have to figure it out later. He had his boring old life to get back to. And, with that, he made sure that his mental blocks were back up to strength. He, of course, hadn’t heard Amaya’s soul song at all during their short conversation, but it never hurt to run a mental security check. As he did so, his thoughts drifted back to his dream. He noticed that he could remember a lot of the details about what happened, which was unusual. People usually didn’t remember much of their wild dreams once they woke up. Then again, his last few days had been odd at best. He decided that he’d go over to Claudia and Soren’s house later to discuss his dream with Claudia. She’d be ecstatic to know that there was some development about the dream, since he’d just talked to her about it yesterday.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he moved across his room to his closet. He pulled out a few clothes items to change into, along with his trusty red scarf. Today was a scarf day, he decided. Said scarf was an old gift given to him a long time ago. He couldn’t remember anymore which of his parents had given it to him, his late mother or his late biological father. In the end, it didn’t matter that much to him. Both were gone now, and the scarf could be a memory of the both of them. It wasn’t too much of an issue.

Callum hummed as he opened his door, clothes still in hand, as he crossed the hallway to the bathroom. He locked himself inside, stripping his shirt off and catching sight of his reflection in the mirror. Despite his somewhat better mood that morning, he scowled at himself. Self-hate issues really were a bitch, weren’t they? It was really better if he just didn’t look in the mirror. Turn your ass around, Callum.

He didn’t pay another thought to the mirror as he reached down to remove his pants. It was then that he remembered one of the aspects of his crazy dream. Everyone had been acting so weird about it too. He wondered…

Without fully registering what he was doing, his hand moved slowly to his pant pocket. Time seemed to slow down as he did so, until his hand finally made it into contact with the taut fabric.

He gasped, full of shock, as his palm came into contact with a small, round object nestled inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ Here's the link to the Fic playlist, now featuring the song connected to chapter 2! And if you choose to listen to it, you'll find if you pay attention to the opening of the song, that it's the same thing I described Rayla's soul song as being. Honestly, that whole song is just Rayla minus the vocals, but there's no instrumental version unfortunately. Oh well. It's still a bangin song. And it fits her better than anything I could ever make. So yeah
> 
> Social links:  
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> DISCORD: https://discord.gg/nM7XTfQ  
> (Please do note that when joining the server you have to post in the #introductions channel first so I can assign you a proper role and then you'll have access to the main chat~)


	3. Experience

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Which… makes it all more crushing to me that I don’t have that. Everyone gets to know who they really are through the song of their own soul. I… I don’t even get to know who I am, Claudia. How am I supposed to feel about that?”
> 
> Claudia’s face softened, eyes shiny with sorrow and pity. She pulled Callum closer and wrapped him in a hug. “I’m so sorry, Callum. I would give anything for you to be okay, you know that? You, Ezran, Soren, I’d give up everything. I wish I could do more for you, I hate that you’re suffering this much. It hurts all of us to know that you feel like this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOP BITCH THIS IS THE LONGEST CHAPTER YET AND IM SORRY FOR THE WILD RIDE YOU'RE ABOUT TO HAVE  
> Im really not but there it is anyways
> 
> Friendly reminder that it's a good idea to listen to the AU playlist to help with some of the song imagery!  
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ  
> (Seriously for this chapter you might wanna actually listen to the 3rd song)

“So was no one gonna tell me that I was out in the middle of bumfuck nowhere last night while not being in my right mind, or I was just supposed to go on believing that whole sequence was a dream?”

Amaya glared at him for the use of a swear in front of Ezran, while said boy just looked at him funny. It was clear that neither of them were impressed with Callum barging into the kitchen already yelling. There was a beat of silence, Callum stood stiffly in the door frame while the other two parties sat stunned at the table, before Amaya let out a sigh and moved to speak.

_ ‘We were hoping you could explain that, actually. I came home last night to find Ezran asleep and you completely missing, what were we meant to think? And then just before I went to go call the police- with Ezran, of course- there’s a knock at our door and we find you in the arms of some strange girl, passed out. I nearly panicked and took it out on your friend, but luckily for her, she was fast to explain herself. She gave you over to me and then left without telling us who she was and how she even found the house. She was rather smug in her comments, now that I’m thinking back to it.’ _

“Smug? Yeah, that sounds like her alright.” Callum mumbled. “Well, I really don’t have an answer for you. I thought I was dreaming the entire time, and I’m not going to attempt to explain the actions of my tired mind and body. It just kinda happened, and that’s all there is to it. It certainly wasn’t a rational choice for me to run off into the Midnight Forest at night. I’m not going to apologize either.”

Amaya let out another sigh at Callum’s defensive retort.  _ ‘Callum, please. I’m not looking to lecture you at every turn. It’s clear to me that you know what you did was dangerous, so I’m okay with it. Claudia explained that you’d been having issues sleeping for the past few days when she came by earlier, so I know why you had a lapse in judgement. But please, please take better care of yourself.’ _

Callum’s breath hitched- he didn’t know what set him off so suddenly, but it wasn’t the first time this had happened. Looking at his Aunt Amaya, seeing her sign those last words, with Ezran beside her, it was too much. Too familiar. And a song began to play in his head.

“I’m going over to Claudia’s. I’ll be back later.” Callum breathed shakily, moving to take a jelly tart before dashing out of the room.

He couldn’t be there right now. There was too much in his head.

* * *

Callum was in Claudia’s backyard now, mucking about with her, and the song wouldn’t leave his mind. He was doing his best to ignore it, and the best he could do was engage in conversation with one of his best friends to the extreme. He could tell even Claudia herself was surprised by just how much he was talking, rambling nonstop. It was almost like he’d contracted her ability to never shut the hell up.

“Oh, I have some… updates on the dream thing. Major updates.” Callum said, continuing his talking streak.

Claudia visibly perked at the mention. “Ooh! Tell me tell me tell me!”

“Well, you’re not going to believe this… but last night I kind of went feral or something. The lack of sleep messed me up and I ended up fleeing my house. Into the Midnight Forest. In the dark. By myself… and it was just like my dream. But unlike my dream, I actually ended up somewhere. And I hate to say it, but because of my less than normal state, my mental blockers failed on me. I wasn’t running aimlessly this time… I was following someone’s soul song.”

Claudia gasped. “Oh my god! Someone was out in the middle of the forest at night?! Did you find them? And wait a minute, your ability has distance limits! How far off were you from this person? How’d you hear it clearly enough?”

Callum rolled his eyes at her enthusiasm. “Patience, Clauds. I’m getting there.” He paused, considering how to continue. “It’s a long story as to why I was able to hear her song from that far away. But she did explain in the end, after I found her. She straight up insulted me to my face when we first met.”

“HER?! And she had that much confidence? Oh, I like this person already. Did she dig at you for your eye bags? I bet it was for your eye bags.”

“Are you going to keep interrupting me or can I continue?” Callum retorted sarcastically, crossing his arms.

He watched Claudia throw up her arms in surrender, making the goofy gesture of zipping her lips shut. He chuckled, some of his muscle stiffness melting away. If he could rely on anyone to make him feel a little bit better, it was Claudia. Even after the whole I-have-a-crush-on-you debacle, they’d remained good friends. Great friends, even. Family. Callum couldn’t possibly wish for anything else. Despite all of his problems growing up, all of the problems he still had, his support network kept him afloat, even if it was rather small. He wondered if he’d ever see Rayla again, and maybe, just maybe, he could add her to that group someday too?

“Right then. After she was done with her little ritual thing, I’ll get to that later, and after she sucker-punched me with an insult, we got to talking, and she asked how I even found her. I told her I heard her from the edge of the forest, and that obviously caught her off guard, because she’d had her mental blocks up. I had to explain what’s different about me, and then apologized for intruding. Despite it all, I still encroached on a private moment, and that’s the one thing I regret from how last night went. It’s common courtesy.” Callum continued, trailing off. He’d nearly forgotten about his transgression. No matter the end result of what had happened, he couldn’t let himself get away with something like that. He’d have to deal with himself later, though. Claudia always pitied him if he did it in front of her.

“Oh, Callum, you didn’t mean it. It’s okay! I’m sure the girl of your dreams understood that too.” Claudia teased, smirking at his deer-in-the-headlights look.

“Wh?! She’s not the girl of my dreams! That wasn’t a dream! She’s just the girl I met in the forest. There’s nothing romantic about meeting a stranger in the middle of the night in thick woods.”

Claudia shot him a knowing look. He felt his face morph into despair.

“Don’t do this to me Clauds.”

“Alright, alright, I was only teasing. Relax. But seriously Callum, don’t think I didn’t pick up on the subtext of what you said. We’ve known each other for almost ten years now, you think I don’t know your habits? It wasn’t your fault. Please don’t go beating yourself up about it later when I’m not there to comfort you.” She pleaded softly, taking his hand into hers.

Callum jolted as the weight of Claudia’s words triggered the song in his head to swell with life. It grew impossibly louder- how could something inside your head have volume? He supposed he could blame it on magic, but that was just illogical. Thoughts didn’t have sounds. He shook his head violently, as if to try and shake the song out of his brain through his ears.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s fine.” He threw out hastily, yanking his hand out of hers. “Anyways, continuing on. I talked to the girl in the woods for a bit, and learned a few things about her. We kind of played twenty questions, but only about 5 questions were asked at most. Does that make sense? Whatever. Her name’s Rayla, if I’m to believe what she told me. Oh, you’re really not going to believe this next bit- She’s different too. She has an extra ability. It’s absolutely nothing like mine, but it’s definitely an experience. She told me that her soul outputs more energy than she can handle sometimes, and to deal with it, she does this little ritual thing where she pushes the energy out and it solidifies into a physical thing. Look! I have proof!” He said excitedly, pulling out the small soul marble Rayla had given to him the night before.

Claudia looked at it with a raised eyebrow, taking it slowly from his outstretched fingers. “Callum, this is a marble.”

“Nonono! I said the same thing too, but just put it up to your forehead and close your eyes! Trust me!”

Claudia looked at him incredulously, but like he had the night before with Rayla, humored him and did as she was told. Her forehead was connected to the orb only for a moment, before she repeated the same reaction he had the first time too, yanking her head back away from the little stone in complete shock.

“Holy crap! That song, that power, that  _ soul! _ You really weren’t pulling my leg! That’s your mystery girl’s soul song?! It’s so… so...”

“Mystical? Amazing? Beautiful? Oh my god, you don’t even know. I hadn’t been paying too much attention to it while I was running, but once I’d found her and stopped, I started really listening. Did you hear those flutes? Those harps? That swelling, flowing melody, paired with her dancing in the clearing with the starlight and glow in her hair to illuminate the area, my god, I’m not saying I’m infatuated with this girl, but how could I not see that and think of utter beauty? Especially if you think deeply about the true meaning of someone’s soul song. That’s them, in their purest form. I knew nothing about Rayla from the moment I met her, but listening to her soul song, listening to her, I suddenly knew almost everything. It’s all so incredibly profound and wonderful!” He exclaimed, a contagious smile on his face. But the smile didn’t last very long. “Which… makes it all more crushing to me that I don’t have that. Everyone gets to know who they really are through the song of their own soul. I… I don’t even get to know who I am, Claudia. How am I supposed to feel about that?”

Claudia’s face softened, eyes shiny with sorrow and pity. She pulled Callum closer and wrapped him in a hug. “I’m so sorry, Callum. I would give anything for you to be okay, you know that? You, Ezran, Soren, I’d give up everything. I wish I could do more for you, I hate that you’re suffering this much. It hurts all of us to know that you feel like this.”

Callum felt his breathing grow shaky, his eyes stinging. The song in his head swelled up again, and he desperately pushed it back down. He knew that song all too well, but all it did for him now was make him feel worse. Memories were always so bitter. He squeezed Claudia back for a moment, before pulling away, rubbing at his eyes.

“I’m okay. I’m in control.” He said with a firm nod, hoping she’d believe him. “Rayla and I ended up talking for a little bit after she explained what she was doing. Oh, god, I just realized why she kept looking at me like I was crazy! I kept saying I was dreaming! I was clearly not dreaming! Wow, she must think I’m a lunatic.”

Claudia snorted. “A+ first impression, Cal. Relax, I think if she paid enough attention to how exhausted you looked, she probably figured out what you were thinking. Soren likes to stay up late a lot of the time exercising like an idiot, and the end result is a tired mind that spews utter nonsense the day after.”

“That still doesn’t change the fact I made a complete clown of myself.”

“Aww, but that’s what we all like about you! That you’re a clown! You always know how to make me laugh, at least.” Claudia exclaimed, teasing again.

Callum stared off behind her, distracted. “I want to go back tonight. I want to try and at least apologize for being an idiot crackhead.”

Claudia made a face. “I legally cannot allow you to go back into the Midnight Forest at night by yourself. If you’re gonna do this, I’m coming with you and that’s final.”

“What? Legally? With what contract?”

“Your aunt scares me, with that contract.” She said, seriousness in her eyes. “Anyways, if we’re gonna take a hike in the woods, you might as well sleep over for the night! You can go home for a few minutes to tell your aunt.”

Callum seized up at the mention of going home. “I don’t… I don’t wanna go home right now. Please. Don’t ask but please.”

He could tell Claudia was processing the situation in her head, figuring out where to tread carefully. She nodded after a second of silence. The memory song in his head pulsated in defiance again.

“Okay. Okay. It’s going to be fine, Cal. I’ll call Ezran later so he can relay the information to your aunt. You don’t have to go home to get anything. We have spare toothbrushes and hygiene products, and you can borrow some of Soren’s clothes if you have to. We’re here for you. I just hope nothing bad happened between you and your family…”

Callum sighed, shaking his head. She deserved at least an idea of what was setting him off. “Just… old memories getting to me. It’s better if I’m not around my family right now. You know how the memories that you used to cherish the most just end up hurting you more than anything else?”

He watched with minor guilt prickling in the back of his brain as Claudia’s cheerful fire burned out in her eyes. He saw it happen. He knew that she was having flashbacks of her own now. Why did he say that?

“Yeah, I do. But it’s all we can do to just move forward, you know? My mother might be gone, and it hurt me, and Soren, and my dad… but I met you and Ezran. I found new people to care about. You can’t replace my mother, but you can give me something new. And you have. And I’m more grateful for that than you could ever know.” She stood up from their spot in the grass, outstretching her hand to him with a soft smile. “Come on. Let’s go inside, have some lunch, and then plan on how to find your mystery girl later tonight. My dad shouldn’t be too occupied with what we’re gonna do. He’s been going out a lot lately to meet up with a new friend of his. Some dude called Aaravos.”

* * *

Escaping Claudia’s house had been easy. True to her word, her father Viren had announced before dinner that he was going out to meet up with a friend of his, and he left shortly after. Soren had stuck around to watch some TV with the two for a little bit, before deciding that they were boring and retreating to his room to do whatever it was he wanted to do. It was at that point he and Claudia exchanged knowing glances, and promptly bolted out of the house through the backdoor. It wasn’t too dark yet, which was to their benefit, as they could at least see better in the Midnight Forest as they ran together.

“Hey Callum? How are we even going to find this clearing anyways? You were following this Rayla girl’s soul song before, but I don’t think we have that now?” Claudia shouted over to him.

Callum skidded to a halt, gaining a yelp from Claudia as she also skidded to a stop as a reaction. His eyes were full of ironic defeat.

“I forgot about that detail.  _ Shit. _ ” Callum hissed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Well, I guess we have a bit of time before we’re blindly reaching in the dark. We could probably find it! It’s all good. Let’s do this.”

* * *

They eventually did find the clearing in the end, but it did take them a little while. The moon was now a sliver in the night sky, and the forest was just as dark as it was when Callum had been there yesterday. The only problem was that there was one component missing: Rayla herself.

Callum assumed that they probably wouldn’t find her right as they arrived, and he was okay with that. He had the capacity to wait. He had a friend with him, and he wasn’t alone in his house where his thoughts could eat away at him. But the memory of the song hadn’t left his head all day, and it was really starting to wear him down now. It would be so much better for him if he could just get this  _ damn violin out of his head- _

“Callum?” Claudia piped up, almost nervously. “What if she isn’t coming?”

“No, no. She has to come. We didn’t come out here for nothing. I didn’t get my hopes up for nothing. I…” He trailed off, his mental strength crumbling in on itself.

The song in his head swelled for a final time and he finally snapped.

“Oh, this was pointless! Why did I ever bother coming out here again?! Of course she isn’t here, why would she be when a crazy stranger discovers her private hangout and then makes a complete ass of himself! She probably found a new spot to hang out and be amazing at! Leave it to me to ruin  _ everything! _ ” He snarled, standing up abruptly and making to storm off.

Claudia grabbed his arm as he passed by, fear and concern in her eyes. “Callum! Calm down, please! I know you didn’t want to talk about it, but I can’t just ignore this anymore! You need to tell me what’s wrong!”

“What’s wrong?!” Callum shouted, whirling around to face her, fire in his eyes, lips set in a scowl. “ _ I’m  _ wrong, Claudia! Everyone gets to know who they are and live a life of music, but I can’t! I don’t have a soul song, I can’t use my extra ability because it's morally wrong, I can’t fit in! I can’t do  _ anything!  _ Meeting Rayla last night gave me a shred of hope that I could find somewhere to belong, that there are other people like me out there, that I’m not as alone as I think I am, but none of that matters! At the end of the day, this girl I met here may have an extra ability like me, but it’s still different from me and marginally better than anything I could do! I’m still the same oddity I was before! I live my life in silence, Claudia! My walls are so far up I can’t even truly knock them down if I wanted to! I probably couldn’t even hear your soul song anymore even if you shared it with me again! All I have is this stupid soul marble!” He continued, yanking it out of his pocket and squeezing it tightly in his hand in anger. 

“Do you want to know why I didn’t want to go home today? It’s because the world decided that today I was going to have the memory of my mother’s soul song ringing in my ears all damn day! I couldn’t even dare to look at Ezran and Aunt Amaya because all they do is remind me of her! Her song that I used to live and breathe, until the day I told her what I could do, and it was never the same after that. Her soul song never changed, but how I interpreted it did. Every time I heard it after that day, all I could think about was how uncomfortable she had been when she learned I’d been able to hear her 24/7, no matter how high she put up walls. And then it left me completely after she died. But the memory of it is still here!” He screamed, jabbing a finger against his temple. Tears were pouring down his cheeks now. “Do you know what it’s like?! Do you know how torn up I’ve been inside today?!”

He paused in his tirade only for a moment, watching as Claudia could only shake her head at his question. She was stunned, and if Callum knew any better, he’d say she was a little bit scared. Tch. Afraid of him? Afraid of the oddity. Of course. He snarled.

“I’ll  _ SHOW YOU!” _

With that rumbling declaration, the small soul marble in his fist shattered in his grasp. He stood there, holding his fist up as the shards filtered out of his closed hand, turning into glowing black smoke, circling just around the immediate area of his wrist, before expanding and circling around his body madly. The wind picked up, blowing violently and crazily outwards with Callum as the focal point, as the black smoke billowing around him shifted to a brilliant white. He could feel the extra soul energy from Rayla’s gift sizzling around his skin in the air, and without really thinking about what he was doing, he closed his eyes and focused on the memory of his mother’s song. It swelled and pulsated, as if wanting to escape, hungry for the outlet he was finally offering. Soon enough, all he could hear was Sarai’s song roaring in his ears. Only, it wasn’t just in his head anymore.

Claudia had her hands put up against her ears as she struggled to stand against the violent winds. Callum faintly realized she was doing that because she could hear it now too, and by gods, it was terribly loud. Who cared? It had been hurting him inside all day, tearing at his insides. He’s said he’d show her how much it hurt. He was doing what he’d promised.

As these toxic thoughts of his continued, consuming his rationality, he watched with cold, dull eyes as Claudia attempted to reach him, eyes wide with fear. The volume of the song he was projecting grew ever louder as he stared his poor friend down. His lips were still drawn back in a snarl. He didn’t care. He felt nothing now. If this was how the world wanted him to be, then so be it. His mother’s song was reaching the crescendo, just like he remembered it. Expose to sound this long would probably make him go deaf at some level at this rate, the same going for Claudia. And he was ready to let that happen. Until…

“ _ STOP! _ ”

He and Claudia both turned their heads to look in the direction the shout had come from- it was a miracle they’d heard it at all, with the noise coming from Callum’s projecting outburst. There, at the edge of the clearing, stood Rayla, mouth agape, eyes wide with the same fear Claudia shared. Seeing her there made the trance Callum had sunk into derail, and the volume of his mother’s song began to gradually lessen. He and Claudia watched as she tentatively stepped further into the clearing, coming closer to them.

“This isn’t you.” She breathed, walking closer still. “Even though I just met you yesterday, I know this isn’t you!”

Callum flinched at her desperate cry, while Claudia watched with awe as the white-haired girl managed to break through to her friend. Callum grunted and groaned, his hands flying up to the sides of his head as he squeezed his eyes shut in something akin to pain. The song hurt. God, he missed his mother so much…  _ Please, come back. _

“Callum.” Rayla called gently, her hand making gentle contact with his arm. He turned swiftly to face her. “It’s going to be okay. Just talk to me.” She paused, startled suddenly by Claudia clearing her throat and giving her a pointed look. “Just talk to us.”

Finally, the song began to quiet, and it slowly faded into nothing. The glowing energy around him filtered off and flew up into the sky, where it dispersed and took its place among the stars. Callum trembled, falling to his knees as his sobs overtook him. Claudia moved first, catching him in his arms and squeezing him tightly as the wretched howls tore out of him through his mouth. Rayla stood nearby, a hand on her wrist as she looked at Claudia, unsure what to do. Claudia looked back, determination in her eyes and she slightly jerked her head in a beckoning motion.  _ He needs us now more than ever. _

Rayla understood. Without any more words, she shuffled quietly over to the two embraced in the grass, and positioned herself where she could take one of Callum’s hands into hers and squeeze it softly. He squeezed back with desperation, his other hand practically clawed into Claudia’s back as his sobs continued. The two girls held him steady.

The stars twinkled above them, the fingernail moon shining her light into the clearing. One could even say the sky itself was extending a comforting hand, as the gentle breeze blew past the three as they sat there, in the middle of the Midnight Forest, as the long process of healing and comfort started.

And within Callum, a spark he’d never known began to buzz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Callum. Did he deserve this? No. Did I do it to him anyway? Yes.  
> Also lmao casual mention of Aaravos because this isn't a plotless fic man. There's gonna be a conflict soon. SOON.
> 
> This fic is genuinely an entire Original Story with the TDP characters just forced in isn't it
> 
> Social links:  
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> DISCORD: https://discord.gg/nM7XTfQ  
> (Please do note that when joining the server you have to post in the #introductions channel first so I can assign you a proper role and then you'll have access to the main chat~)


	4. Farewell Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum was stunned into silence for a moment at Claudia’s speech, before giving her a tired smile. “You sound so much like my mother sometimes, you know that?” He paused, eyes drooping from exhaustion. “Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> slams head on desk,,, STILL GOING BABEY
> 
> I can feel my motivation to write this dying. It's because Im cranking out so much in so little time but like. Once spring break is over im literally never gonna have the time or the willpower dsfghj

The clearing was silent. The breeze danced among the blades of grass, and roamed along the bodies of the three teens huddled together on the ground. The noise that had dominated the air had now ceased, but no words were needed at this moment. Three teens, three different types of messed up, one single moment.

Callum’s sobs had died down a while ago now, but no one moved. Steady, yet shuddering breathing could be heard as his face was still shoved up against Claudia’s shoulder. She was stroking his back gently, her eyes trained on the white-haired girl next to her as she continued to hold her friend’s hand. She was studying the newcomer intensely, her previous excitement about the idea of Callum having a new friend having faded. She was in major protection mode now, after tonight’s events. She wasn’t lying when she’d said she would sacrifice everything for him. Ezran and Soren too, of course, but that's besides the point now.

Claudia was a little wary of Rayla. It wasn’t anything malicious, but considering her long lasting friendship with the boy huddled in her arms, to say she was a bit protective was the understatement of her life. She’d been there through so many times where Callum was falling, losing himself, anything of the sort, and she hated that the world made him feel that way every time. A lot of the time, it was other people who hurt him, no matter if they meant it or not. His relationship with other people around him was something entirely different because of his ability- something Claudia knew she could never understand, but by god she tried. After losing her mother, she would be fierce and vicious to protect the other ones she called family. So could you really blame her for being wary of someone new who’d already been a cause of one of Callum’s meltdowns?

“I’m sorry.” It was a quiet admission, so quiet the two almost didn’t hear it.

Claudia pulled back just a bit so she could look Callum dead in the eye. “Hey. You’re okay. I don’t blame you for a second. Never.”

Callum’s lip quivered again. “But… I hurt you… How could you just let me get away with that?”

She shook her head. “I don’t care about that. I only care about helping you. You’ve been through things I could never even imagine, Callum. Things that have played with your head, and your heart. You might think that it’s no excuse, and you’re right to think that. But I’ve known you for a very long time, this is really only the second time you’ve made a choice that negatively affected me. How many times have I been the one to set you off? Too many times, if I’m being honest. Sometimes people make mistakes, and no matter how vile the mistake might be, it’s completely within the affected party’s decision to forgive and forget. That’s what I’m doing. That’s what I  _ want  _ to do, Callum. No matter how twisted you feel inside, I care about you and that’s final. You can choose to believe it or not. That won’t stop me from considering you a part of my family.”

Callum was stunned into silence for a moment at Claudia’s speech, before giving her a tired smile. “You sound so much like my mother sometimes, you know that?” He paused, eyes drooping from exhaustion. “Thank you.”

Claudia grimaced at his losing consciousness, scooping him up in her arms this time. “I hope you’re not going to make this a habit. Falling asleep in the middle of the damn woods.”

“M not… planning on it.”

“Right. We should get out of here, all of us. Despite our lucky streak thus far, predators still live here. I'd rather not get attacked by a bear or something.” Claudia nodded firmly, noticing with a fond roll of her eyes that Callum had already dozed off. She turned her attention to Rayla, who was once again standing by with a hand around her wrist- seemed like a nervous habit. “Do you want to come with us? It could be beneficial for all of us. Hell, I don’t even really know who you are, but Callum does and he seems to already care about you.”

Rayla seemed skittish at this revelation. “I dunno… my dads might be wondering where I am, they know I come out here sometimes, and we just moved in…”

Claudia blanched. “You?! You’re the one who moved into the house that we all considered the Void House? No one has lived there in ages. Surprised the hell out of all of us that suddenly someone was.”

Rayla chuckled a little nervously. “Oh… yeah. S’why you’ve never seen me before, assuming you’ve lived here for awhile. I haven’t really gone about meeting the neighbors yet.”

“Well that just changes everything, doesn’t it!” Claudia exclaimed, making sure to keep her voice down for Callum. “Anyone who’s a neighbor of mine is welcome. My dad isn’t home, so you won’t have to worry about meeting much of anyone else. Well, besides my brother, if he decides to come out of hiding.”

“Come out of hiding?”

“The idiot’s practically a recluse, working out in his room all the time.”

Rayla laughed again, this time no nervousness present in her tone. “Are you sure you want me to come with you? I’m not usually the best company…”

Claudia rolled her eyes. “Nonsense. If Callum considers you a friend, then I’m more than happy to extend my hospitality.”

Rayla looked a little troubled at the mention of the boy considering her of all people a friend, but she offered Claudia a smile as she looked at Callum asleep in her arms. She nodded, making up her mind, and they all left the clearing together.

* * *

If you had told Rayla a couple of weeks ago that she would move into her new neighborhood and immediately end up in a random person’s house after meeting a boy in the woods who was sleep deprived but still amazingly interesting, she would have laughed and called you a crackhead. But here she was, sitting on the couch in a house she was unfamiliar with while that boy she met in the woods slept next to her. His friend-- what was her name again?-- was sitting nearby on a single armrest chair, staring her down. It was a little unnerving to say the least.

“Eh… any particular reason you’re starin’ at me like that?” Rayla ventured carefully.

Claudia blinked, as if she’d just woken up from a trance. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry, I just completely zoned out thinking about things. Don’t mind it. I swear I’m really nice once you get to know me.”

“Well, considering how caring you were with Callum earlier, I already have some sort of idea.” Rayla replied with a nod. “But don’t think I’m stupid. Even if you were zoning out, I know a scrutinizing look when I see one. You don’t particularly trust me, do you?”

Claudia sighed, sitting back in her chair. “Look. It’s not you, it’s just…” She trailed off, her gaze landing on Callum again. “Callum is one of my longest friends, and we’ve been through a lot together. I’ve seen so many of his bad days, and know what causes those bad days, and at the end of it all, it’s other people that set him off the most. I just want to protect him. He doesn’t have a lot of friends, and I’m all for him making new ones, but I have to know that you’d never hurt him. Even though you technically already did, I guess I can’t blame you for it since you really didn’t do anything.”

Rayla made a face. “Excuse me? I hurt him? How the hell did I do that? I spoke like, maybe ten sentences to him!”

Claudia put up her hands in defense. “Please calm down. It’s just my observation on things. All I’m saying is that him meeting you last night aided in his outburst tonight. It’s the circumstances. You didn’t hurt him on purpose. It’s just the fact that he apparently feels inferior to you.”

Despite the circumstances, Rayla felt herself soften. Oh, how she did know that feeling. It bothered her that she could make anyone else feel that way. This wasn’t going to stand. “Look… That clearly wasn’t my intention. I was just minding my own business in the Midnight Forest and your Sad Prince here stumbled into my space.”

Claudia raised an eyebrow. “Sad Prince?”

“You know what I mean. I can tell from the two encounters I’ve had with him that he’s got a lot going on in that funny little head of his. I feel like anyone else would be scared or chased off by the amount of baggage he carries, but I’ve never been one who gives up on things. If there’s anything I can do to help him, I’d be up for it. Plus, it’s not every day I meet someone with an extra soul ability… especially one I’ve never seen before…” Rayla mumbled, trailing off.

“Hold on. Back up. You’ve met other people with extra abilities too? You and Callum aren’t the only outliers is what you’re saying?” Claudia asked excitedly.

Rayla blinked. Oh. She’d let that slip, hadn’t she. “Ah hell. I wasn’t supposed to talk about that. But yes, I have. But like I said, I’ve never seen anything like what Callum just did tonight.”

Claudia frowned. “Neither have I…”

“Wait. You’re saying he just showed this ability tonight?”

“Yeah. All he’s ever had before is the ability to hear through people’s mental blocks. I never knew he could outwardly project the memory of someone else’s soul song like that. That song was his mother’s, a woman named Sarai. I never got to meet her before she died, but I’ve heard stories. She sounded like a wonderful woman. Callum even seems to think I can sound like her… I’d consider that a compliment, wouldn’t you?”

Rayla sighed with a smile. “Maybe I could answer you sometime in the future when I have more context. I barely know anything about the two of you. Hell, I don’t even know your name.”

“Oh! I’m Claudia. Sorry about that! Yeah. Also, my brother’s name is Soren if you get the chance to meet him tonight.”

“Nice to meet you, Claudia. I have a feeling you already know my name, but it’s Rayla if I’m wrong.”

“Yeah, I knew. Callum was kind of running his mouth to me earlier this morning. You should have heard him describing your soul song. Which… I did hear it through your little crystal before Callum shattered it. Oh my god, that didn’t hurt you, did it? I know he’s kinda in a bad place mentally right now but if it hurt you I’m gonna have to punch him once. Just one time. I swear.” Claudia asked seriously.

Rayla shook her head frantically. “No! Don’t hurt him, he didn’t do anything. I did feel something before I made it to the clearing with you guys, I’m assuming now it was the moment he smashed the crystal, but it wasn’t painful. It just felt like a nudge in the right direction. I dunno, I still have a lot to learn about my own ability, much less Callum’s. But it would be in my best interest to keep an eye on his powers. I know that sounds like a selfish reason for me to hang around, but I swear I do want to be friends. That part is just more a side goal for things I really can’t be talking about right now. Maybe sometime soon I can tell you, but considering I answer to other people about this private information, me blabbing could get me in serious trouble.”

Claudia eyed her. “I’m not going to say I fully trust you on that, but I guess I have no real choice.” A beat. “So… changing the topic, I was wondering if these abilities have specific names. You know how everyone has the base ability of the Soul Song? Well… most of us.” Another glance at Callum’s sleeping form. “Soul Song is the name of the ability. What do you think we should call Callum’s first extra ability? Soul Sight? Wait, I don’t know if that makes sense… I mean, it’s kinda like he can see through the walls we put up, but in an auditory way?”

“I’d call it Soul Perception, if I’m being honest. And I call my own Soul Radiance- in short, I constantly radiate extra soul energy. Callum stumbled on me removing some of that extra energy out of my body last night. That’s what that crystal I gave him was made up of. He seemed to use my extra energy to heighten his own output and it resulted in an awakening of a new ability of his. I’ve never heard of anyone with an extra ability to begin with having more than one. He might be a very special case. But in the end, I think that the new ability he showed off earlier would be called Soul Projection.” Rayla decided. “What about you? Got any secret extra abilities you’ve been hiding from the world?”

Claudia shook her head. “Nah. Unless I’ve been hiding it from myself this entire time. I’m completely ordinary.”

“I heard you mention that Callum doesn’t have a soul song…” Rayla began hesitantly. “I’m assuming that’s the main cause of all his doubts and mental… stuff. A person with no soul song but two extra soul abilities… he’s getting even more mysterious by the minute.”

“Hey. Don’t act like he’s just another mystery to solve. He’s still a person. An important one, at that.” Claudia grumbled, slipping slightly back into protection mode.

“Nonono, I didn’t mean it like that… ugh, I really should shut my mouth sometimes…”

A chuckle. “Hah. Maybe we have one thing in common, we both can’t shut the hell up. The amount of times Callum has had to physically stop me from talking are too many to count.”

“Huh, so his job is to keep you in line? I could see that. The other half of me sees him as a saint who couldn’t hurt a fly.” Rayla said, feeling bold enough to reach over and gently ruffle the sleeping boy’s hair.

Claudia watched the interaction with a soft smile. “I think you’ll be good for him, you know.”

“Really? Me?”

“Yeah. You’ve already done something for him, I can tell you that. You gave him hope for the first time in a long time. He was actually pretty excited when he was explaining your meeting to me. It’s also been awhile since he’s had someone new to talk to. I think he would love to have you, if you’re willing to have him.”

Rayla was silent, her eyes trained on Callum sleeping next to her. This was, overall, a stranger that she was sitting next to, with her hand in his hair. She’d known him for probably less than twenty-four hours at this point, and yet she couldn’t deny a tiny spark in her soul that drew her to him. She had no idea what caused it though. It wasn’t something she was interested in thinking about, in case it led her down a path of weird feelings she really didn’t want to get into. Claudia’s words echoed in her head.  _ ‘I think he would love to have you, if you’re willing to have him.’  _ There was something so intoxicating about the concept of someone actually wanting you, but it felt all the more addicting considering she wanted him back, and she still  _ didn’t know why.  _ That would have to be a thought for another time. She nodded her head firmly at Claudia.

“I would love to try. Though like everything else, I have to put my belief in place- Not everything will work out the way people want. On the off chance that a friendship can’t work between us, I’ll take all of the blame and move on.”

“Oh, don’t think like that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Callum actively dislike someone. He’s a sweetheart. He’d be more likely to beg someone back than drop someone himself.” Claudia said, waving a hand in the air. “Anyways! Since you’re interested, we can exchange phone numbers! I’m pretty sure you moved in a few weeks ago, but I haven’t seen you at Katolis High, so I don’t actually know when I’m gonna see you again. Give me your phone and I can input mine and Callum’s numbers in it!”

Rayla gave her a pointed look, but did as she was told. While Claudia was fiddling with the contacts, Rayla thought back to what she had said earlier. “Hey, you said Callum had described my soul song to you? W...what did he say?”

Rayla immediately regretted this question as soon as she saw the almost evil look in Claudia’s eyes as she grinned mischievously. “Oh! Nothing too bad, really, I believe the words were ‘mystical’, and ‘amazing’, and ‘beautiful’. He was gushing about how your song was a swelling, flowing melody that complemented your apparent dancing perfectly. That one couldn’t look at that scene before him and not think of utter beauty. I’d call it an admission of love if you asked me, but in his words, he is ‘not infatuated’ with you.”

“I… oh.” Rayla stumbled with her words, her face suddenly feeling extremely hot. What was that? “I’ve certainly never heard that description of me before. That’s… very sweet of him.”

Claudia was staring at her with a knowing look, but she didn’t say anything else. Soon enough, Rayla checked the time on her phone once the older girl handed it back, and realized that she had to start heading home. Claudia nodded in understanding, knowing that a sleepover at a person’s house you just met would probably be really awkward and uncomfortable, so she let the younger girl go. As Rayla walked out the front door, Claudia silently waving her off, she pressed her hands to her cheeks, still feeling a bit of stray warmth. No, this could not be happening. She could not already be blushing about a compliment given to her by a guy she’d just met. That just made no sense!

Although, no one could really blame her. Complimenting someone’s soul song like that was rather intimate, at least in Rayla’s opinion. The song of someone’s soul represented their entirety, after all. Complimenting a soul song was the equivalent of complimenting every single thing about that person. Such high praise was something she wasn’t used to, and her brain couldn’t properly handle it.

“Ugh… stupid Sad Prince…” Rayla muttered under her breath as she crossed the street to her house.

But before she went in, she fished her phone out from her pocket and typed quickly into it. Satisfied with what she wrote, she pocketed it again and unlocked her house’s front door.

“Runaan! Ethari! I’m home!”

* * *

Callum woke up in a room that definitely was not his bedroom. It took him a moment to remember the events of the night prior, but he eventually did, and remembered that he’d slept over at Soren and Claudia’s house. He was on their couch in their living room. He hoped their dad hadn’t seen him, god knows he must’ve looked like a wreck. With dismay, he realized that his neck was hurting  _ again.  _ He really needed to get better at sleeping not in ridiculous positions. Though in his defense, their couch wasn’t exactly the most comfy thing in the world.

He willed himself to sit up, rubbing at one of his eyes lazily. He knew Claudia had retreated to her own room to go to bed at some point in the night. He hoped that it hadn’t been too boring, since he’d fallen asleep rather early, considering everything. If he was sneaky enough, he could technically escape the house and flee back to his Aunt’s before anyone else woke up. He didn’t want to overstay his welcome by having the nerve to ask them to make him breakfast too. It always made him feel slightly guilty.

While he was considering his options, he pulled his phone out and saw his screen displaying a new text from an unknown number. Frowning in curiosity, he unlocked his phone and checked the message.

_ [Unknown Number] 11:35:28pm _

_ Hey! This is Rayla, Claudia gave me your phone number while you were out. I know we really only just met, but I would honestly like to get to know you better. Do you think you’re free at any point tomorrow to hang out? Maybe go out for coffee? I don’t know, you can suggest something too. But if you don’t, that’s cool too. Just maybe let me know? _

_ -Rayla _

Oh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter than last but whatever. My minimum for these things is 3000 words and last chapter I just kinda popped off for no good reason. Wild shit. Anyways the Soul Song AU playlist is up to date, 4 songs, one for each chapter. It took me a little bit to find a song that could be the counterpart for this chapter...
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link)
> 
> Social links:  
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> DISCORD: https://discord.gg/nM7XTfQ  
> (Please do note that when joining the server you have to post in the #introductions channel first so I can assign you a proper role and then you'll have access to the main chat~)


	5. You Are a Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This wasn’t a date.
> 
> Callum didn’t have a goddamn clue about going out to meet a girl by himself and get coffee with her. But this wasn’t a date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ffffffffffffuck im still alive i swear. The bad thing about using all this music for this story is that its triggering my desire to do synesthesia based art. I think it's safe for me to say at this point I have a form of synesthesia, considering I can hear colors from sounds and see colors for some words/letters/numbers. So yeah. My monkey brain wanted to do the art shit. Idk. Hooheeeeeee

This wasn’t a date.

Callum didn’t have a goddamn clue about going out to meet a girl by himself and get coffee with her. But this wasn’t a date. This was just a friendly hangout, to get to know each other better. That’s what Rayla had said in her text. She was rather straightforward about it, really. She didn’t beat around the bush at all, only gave him the straight truth- that she was interested in maybe becoming friends. He chuckled to himself for a moment as he was messing about in his room. He’d shot Rayla a text back as soon as he’d left Claudia’s, giving his brother and his aunt a standard greeting before blowing straight past them into his room- he had to get ready, after all!

But this was  _ not  _ a date.

There was something about the vibe of that Sunday that was perplexing to him. Callum spent a lot of time mucking about in his own head, thinking, daydreaming, listening. He wasn’t exactly the most outgoing person on the planet to say the least. For the longest time he’d taken to living inside his own head more than living in the outside world- and there was a reason for this. His memory was exceptional- it was one of the qualities that made him such a good artist. He did eventually want to study something in art in college when he got that far. But this powerful memory of his wasn’t restricted to just drawing. Locked away in a section of his brain were all of the soul songs he’d heard as a kid before he cut it all off. Song he heard while standing in front of the sender, songs he heard in passing, all sorts of songs. They were all still there, whether they had a face to match or not. Part of him was uncomfortable with this fact, as if he’d harvested people’s soul songs to keep hidden in a mind vault, but at the end of the day, they brought him comfort. Gave him something soft to land on in the void his lack of a soul song created.

By no means was he stealing anyone else’s soul song to use as his own- now that he thought about it, that probably wasn’t even possible- but fronting with someone else’s song brought him selfish satisfaction, even if it didn’t last. He didn’t usually practice this, as he’d taken to try and wean himself off of the practice, but today was different. He felt strangely hollow, but at the same time, he was okay with that. A complete lack of emotion, only acceptance. A rare state for him to fall into, but it wasn’t the first time. Callum stilled in his motions, imagining himself in his mind filing through the soul song memories like a filing cabinet, before finding one he decided to front with for the day. One more time couldn’t hurt, could it? Besides, it’s not like he had ever seen the face to match this song. There was no guilt this time.

Satisfied, he returned to his preparation. Preparation for his not date.

* * *

Callum knew that this little meeting of his was going to end up in a disaster the moment he got a text halfway through walking to the place he and Rayla had originally planned to meet.

_ [Rayla]  _ 11:37:12am

_ Hey, change of plans. Do you think that you could meet me at the Sunforge Diner instead? I’m sorry this is so last minute, but it’s kinda necessary. I’ll explain later. I promise. _

He sighed, spinning around on his heel and starting to walk to the new location. The original location was the complete opposite direction of the Sunforge Diner, so that meant he was going to be a little later than he’d planned on being. What a great 3rd impression, Callum. He remembered to alert her to the possible lateness of his idiot ass in the form of a text back at least.

Though if there was any upside to the continued time by himself, he found his thoughts twirling in his head quite pleasant. He had a little quirk that if it was in certain condition, he would stop thinking in words and start thinking in sounds. In music. It was a little joke he liked to make, saying that he could “speak in music” despite it just being in his head. A lot of things were in his head. And a lot of things in his head connected back to music.

Callum considered himself a bit of a Synesthete. In this big, wonderful world where the lines between physical, mental, and emotional were already blurred, there were people, including him, where those blurred lines were almost nonexistent. Sounds had colors to him- any sound, any song. And because soul songs were just reflections of a person, in a roundabout way, he could see people in different colors as well. Colors different from the value of their skin, the hue of their hair, all of that. And it would translate from his brain to the paper when he drew things. Seeing the world differently wasn’t always so bad. Rayla’s soul song, for example, he’d now taken enough time to think about. He knew the colors of Rayla physically, but he also now knew the colors of Rayla mentally and emotionally.

Back when he’d still had the little soul orb from her, he’d taken the time to really listen. Listen without any bias, with no thoughts about who it belonged to, and the area around him when he’d first heard it. This was why he didn’t consider himself a full Synesthete in a way- because he always assumed people with this extra quirk had no issues with it- that it would happen automatically. He always had to listen, and to focus. And not every sound had a color he could identify for it. But fortunately for him, Rayla’s song gave him no real struggle. Maybe he would be bold enough to tell her all of this and what her colors were when they met up today.

But as he turned the corner and made it to the Sunforge Diner, he could see Rayla and a grown woman inside in a heated discussion. He frowned. She wasn’t going to get them kicked out, was she? Callum made sure to enter quietly and decided to wait patiently for the assumed argument to end- but he soon found that it wasn’t an argument.

“You let him see you! He could have followed you for god’s sake, Rayla! He wasn’t supposed to know any of us were here, and now that he’s seen you, he knows we aren’t far behind! What if he decides to up and run again? You, Ethari, and Runaan would have to move again, and you just got here!” The woman growled.

Rayla gave no signs of backing down. “I didn’t exactly mean to let him see me, Janai! It just kind of happened! None of us expected him to be walking out in the open so casually anyways! As much as I am a part of all of this, I have a right to live life as a normal person. God forbid I want to enjoy living!”

The woman, Callum now knew as Janai, seemed to deflate a little. “There is a thin line that needs to be walked if you want to balance those two things, Rayla. I’m going to have to tell your fathers about this development. I’ve said what I could say, but I’m sure they’ll have a few choice words for you later. I expect that we’ll all have to pack up and move again sometime soon in the future.”

“What?! Why does it even have to be all of us anyways? I actually like it here, why can’t some of us stay and the other half go after him, if he even decides to flee again? There are things I’d quite like to stay here for!” Rayla argued with a hint of panic in her voice.

Janai sighed. “Safety in numbers, you know this. Think of what happened to your real parents, Ray. The more that goes, the safer it is for all of us. And letting him go isn't an option either. We can’t let him run free with what power he possesses.” She then caught sight of Callum lurking nearby, her eyes narrowing. “Who are you, exactly?”

Rayla whirled around and realized who it was. “Oh, Callum! Uh, I thought you would end up being later than you were.”

“I power walked.” Callum replied curtly, unsure of how to go about now with what he’d just heard.

“Janai, this is my new friend Callum. I met him a couple nights ago, we were supposed to meet up today somewhere else but I told him to come here instead! After all, the Sunforge Diner is the best place in town.” Rayla said, deflection clear in her tone. She made sure to lean in close to her suddenly, whispering something Callum couldn’t hear.

She wasn’t telling him the whole truth. Callum knew she had secrets to hide, and she’d told him this, and told him she couldn’t tell him, but something about her being blatantly secretive right in front of him was like a slap in the face. He sighed.

“We could just hang out some other time if you’re busy, you know. I get that you have business to discuss with your friend.” He pressed.

“No, no, we’re done--”

“We are NOT done, young lady.” Janai interrupted with a sharp tone. Rayla shrank a little while she turned again to Callum, all signs of malice gone from her face when she addressed him. “Your name is Callum, right honey? Would you mind just sitting at one of the tables while I talk to Rayla some more? I own this diner, so you can order food on the house. Kazi will tend to you.”

“Um… okay?” Callum replied. Who was Kazi?

“Great! I like you, you know when to listen. Rayla, let’s go. We can continue our discussion in the back room. Privately.” Janai said, wasting no time in grabbing Rayla by the arm and dragging her to the said back room.

Callum stood there, a little confused, before shrugging to himself with another sigh and finding a booth to sit at. He did like the style of the place- the Sunforge Diner had only opened around a month or two ago, so he’d never actually been here before. The retro theme was nice, if he was going to give anything the praise. But considering its new-ness, it seemed like not a lot of people came to eat there. He was currently the only one actually there.

“Ah… sorry about my boss. She can be really scary sometimes. Well, more like all of the time.” A voice startled him from his thoughts, and he looked up to see another person standing attentively at his table.

“You must be Kazi, right?” Callum asked politely.

They nodded. “Yes, that’s me. I’m one of the waiters here. I’m technically the only one working right now, besides my boss Janai. You can figure out why we’re currently staffed so low.”

Callum managed to crack a smile. “Yeah… Is it usually this empty?”

“Well, Sundays are always the emptiest, but we’d usually have a few more people by now. I guess it’s just an off day.” They replied casually, clicking the pen in their hand as they held a notepad. “Anything you want to order? Oh, wait, you don’t even have a menu. Hold on… I’ll go get that for you.”

Callum watched as Kazi rushed off into another back room to get him a menu as promised. His smile dropped as soon as he was alone again, though. Staring down at the table, he began to frown. What was he doing here? Rayla was clearly a part of a bigger picture, of which she couldn’t tell him. He wouldn’t get to be a part of it himself. Not that he had any true right to insert himself in that thing, but it still felt disheartening that he was left in the dark. 

He didn’t belong here.

“Sorry it took so long, Mr. Callum! Here’s your-- huh?” Kazi announced cheerfully, only to cut themselves off in confusion.

Callum had vanished.

* * *

He knew it was dumb to go back the clearing in the Midnight Forest, but he couldn’t help it. The area had grown on him, it was peaceful, solitary, silent. It was a nice place to go when you didn’t want to be found or bothered. The sky was cloudy and gray, but that light kind of gray that didn’t signify the threat of rain. It was the type of overcast that made someone question reality, pretending like you were trapped in a steel box or a very foggy snow-globe. Callum’s mind felt like that more often than not, but there were the rare times he could find himself enjoying that state of mind. Today was one of those days, and it had been from the beginning. It was a nice change from the stormy dark gray that he knew so well inside.

He’d felt his phone buzzing in his pocket a bit ago- he knew it was probably Rayla, calling or texting, wondering where he’d gone, but he didn’t bother to answer her. Callum felt too out of place at the given moment to try to refit himself into social interaction. Gods, he was so easy to set off. He really needed to work on growing a damn backbone for once.

He sighed, focusing on the song in his head he’d decided to front with earlier. It was really his anchor for today. He closed his eyes, lying back in the grass, nose to the gray skies, and began to hum along to the memory he clung to. It was slow, drawn-out, heavy hitting. Something that would probably make any other person sad or kill the happy mood at the very least. But it was all just so normal to him, and sometimes Callum wondered if that was just another thing he should add to the list of things that made him abnormal. Not that his self-hate needed more material to work with.

“I should’ve thought to look here first.”

Damn. Maybe coming here was a little too predictable.

“Oh. Hey Rayla. Don’t mind me, I’m just kinda hanging out here. I can see why this is the place you choose to go for your turn to live solitary.” Callum replied, his humming ceasing and his eyes opening.

He spotted Rayla a few feet away with a frown on her face, and something akin to disappointment in her eyes. “Why did you leave?”

He shrugged. “Didn’t seem like I belonged there. I felt out of place. Besides, I didn’t know how long you and Janai were going to be uh… discussing business.”

“But we were having Kazi attend to you while you waited! They said you vanished before they could even give you a menu!”

“You know it’s not just that.” Callum replied curtly, allowing some agitation to slip into his tone. “All this talk about danger and following someone and moving, it kinda makes it hard to see the point of making a friend only for them to go away a week later.”  _ I’d lose your soul song so soon after hearing it too… I’ve been through that enough times.  _ He didn’t say that last part aloud.

Rayla’s frown only deepened. “You were listening for that long and didn’t say anything? That was still a private conversation Callum! I told you I couldn’t talk about that stuff with you yet! Now I’m not even sure I’ll ever be able to with the mistake I made earlier…”

He sighed. What was he even doing?

“Look, Rayla, I don’t want to make a friend only to lose them in a few days. What’s worse is that I’m not even gonna be able to know why you have to leave at that point.” A pause. “Do you not get it? I really do like you, Rayla, and I want to be your friend, but I just don’t think it would be a good idea for someone as fragile-minded as me to go through other loss, no matter what type of loss it is. I don’t usually put myself first but for some reason I’m willing to now.”

Rayla’s shoulder sagged. “Callum, I’m not going to let my parents make me leave. I just got here, and I like it here. I like the idea of the future I might have here. I don’t want the only friends I’ve ever attempted to have give up on me. Please… can we just start over?”

Callum blinked. Only friends she’d ever attempted to have? She’d… never had friends before? But what about Janai, and Kazi, and anyone else she might know in her secret circle? “Come here.” He spoke without thinking, sitting up and patting the grass next to him. Why the hell had he said that?!

Rayla eyed him cautiously, before inching over and sitting next to him, gaze locked on anything but him. There was silence then, under the gray sky, in the same clearing for the third time in a row.

“You’ve… never had any friends before? I don’t understand.” Callum mumbled suddenly, breaking the silence.

Rayla sighed, hanging her head low. “Not really. There’s Janai, and Kazi, and my dads, and a few others, but I wouldn’t really count them as  _ my  _ friends. They’re all practically adults, with things to do, and business with each other that keeps them all tied together in a close radius. They’re people I can talk to, sure, but it’s not the same. I dunno. That’s how I feel about it at least.”

Something about this didn’t sit right with Callum. He knew what it was like to not have a lot of friends, but to have none at all? How would anyone manage that? It wasn’t right for Rayla to have to live like that. Feeling more bold than he’d ever felt, he reached over gently and took her hand in his with a soft smile. “Then let’s start over and break that record. Hi, I’m Callum. I’m kind of a wreck and a mess at the same time, I don’t have a soul song, but I can do other things with souls, and I like to do art. What’s your name?”

Rayla stared startled at their now entwined hands, before meeting his gaze with an equally soft smile. “I’m Rayla. I don’t care that you think you’re a wreck and a mess, I do have a soul song that someone considers rather beautiful, and I have an extra soul ability of my own. Nice to meet you.”

Callum felt his heart thump wildly suddenly at her words, and her level gaze, and their entwined hands resting against the grass. He then felt something else- a power, an energy of sorts, coursing through him starting at his hand that was being held by Rayla’s. She didn’t seem to notice what she was doing, but then again, neither did Callum, as the song in his head suddenly radiated out of his mind and into the surrounding space. It was like what he’d done the night before, but less loud, less painful, less wild. He blinked, breaking eye contact with the girl beside him to look around the clearing, but he didn’t let go of his hand.

“Oh.” Rayla breathed, just as surprised as he was. “Is this another soul song memory you have? I must’ve given you some more of my extra soul energy without realizing it. I should probably stop.”

“No!” Callum replied quickly, clearing his throat with a faint blush as he shook his head. “No, it’s okay. I’ve never really been able to do something like this before. It’s new to me, I want to experience it without much negativity.”

Rayla cocked her head in curiosity, but didn’t argue, and didn’t remove her hand from his. She focused on listening for a moment- Callum could see her ears twitching slightly as if to take it in better-- before she turned her eyes back to him. “Well, I wouldn’t exactly call this song positive in my opinion anyways. Sounds rather sad to me.”

Callum gave her a little smirk. “Yeah, I always thought others wouldn’t quite like it. But for me, something like this is probably the best representation of my neutral mood. It’s not that it’s sad to me, I can definitely understand why others would find it sad, but it’s just… good. It’s good to me in a way I can’t explain. I’ve found that music is like that most of the time.”

Rayla surprised him then, leaning her head against his shoulder comfortably. She let out a sigh that he would describe as content, as she spoke again. “Y’know… now that I’m thinking about this song a bit more, maybe it’s not as sad as I originally thought.” There was a hidden meaning behind her statement, and it was all she could do to hope Callum understood it.

“Hmm.” Was all that Callum replied, closing his eyes again as he listened to his own memory some more.

“I’m starting to think we should have just agreed to come back here to hang out in the first place.”

Callum laughed at that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Startin to get sum RAYLLUM up in this bitch bro. Also I am going to have Amaya/Janai happen I'm legally bound to do so.  
> Also Kazi is non-binary right? Did I get that right or am I a fuckin moron?
> 
> Idk. Here's the Soul Song AU playlist like again: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link)
> 
> Social links:  
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> DISCORD: https://discord.gg/nM7XTfQ  
> (Please do note that when joining the server you have to post in the #introductions channel first so I can assign you a proper role and then you'll have access to the main chat~)


	6. Filmic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla knew the dangers of following Aaravos to the ends of the earth. Everyone knew the dangers, it was common knowledge among the Moonshadow group, and they still did it anyways. But for her, it was especially dangerous. The fact that Aaravos hadn’t followed her and let her go when he’d spotted her yesterday was a miracle. If it were her in his situation, she would have grabbed him immediately and done the job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fuck this chapter bro fuck it. Idk why this chapter gave me such frustration but it was just BORING. I HAVE A FUN THING TO WRITE PLANNED FOR CHAPTER 7!!! It was originally gonna be a part of this chapter but I decided I wanted it to be in the forefront of a chapter so I ended up cutting this chapter short, under my 3000 word minimum. Whatever. It's fine. Fuck this shit
> 
> Also I think I got angry at this chapter a lot cause it took me forever to decided on a song counterpart and it still doesn't exactly sound the same but FUCK I T  
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link~)

Rayla knew the dangers of following Aaravos to the ends of the earth. Everyone knew the dangers, it was common knowledge among the Moonshadow group, and they still did it anyways. But for her, it was especially dangerous. The fact that Aaravos hadn’t followed her and let her go when he’d spotted her yesterday was a miracle. If it were her in his situation, she would have grabbed him immediately and done the job.

Rayla, above all else, was the equivalent of a battery. She knew this, and it didn’t bother her in the end, because she was a battery with no real thing to power. Until there was- two things now, in fact. But for a while it had been one thing. One thing she could power, but god forbid she ever did. That thing was Aaravos.

Everything led back to Aaravos.

Aaravos was the reason her parents were dead, the reason why Zubeia’s husband was dead, and the reason why she was even here at all. If there was one pro of that bastard’s existence, it was the fact she got to meet Callum and Claudia due to his fleeing. Though he really should’ve expected the group to follow considering their past dedication to being an absolute nuisance to him. As much as Rayla would love to sock him in the face at least once, she couldn’t go near him.

Dare she say she was afraid to go anywhere near him.

No one could blame her for being afraid of him. She was there when he’d killed her parents. She had been still young, but she remembered it clearly. He hadn’t just killed them- he’d done far worse. He had extra soul powers just like she did, and it was because of those powers the Moonshadow group had been formed. Anyone with a brain could see that the power he possessed was potentially world-ending, and they were determined to stop it. But because of the mass panic information like this could cause if it was public, she was sworn to secrecy. No one could know, even if she wanted desperately to tell them.

She’d told Janai about Callum’s powers. About how he was the second person she’d ever met that had more than one, and the extra mystery that he didn’t have a soul song at all. She hoped that Janai would relay that information to her dads when she ratted her out for being seen. Maybe they would take an interest in protecting him too, welcoming him into the group. Safety in numbers. The last thing they needed was Aaravos gaining another target to hunt for. If he gained access to Callum’s Soul Perception, it was truly all over. For her, for the group, for everyone. He’d be unstoppable at that point. That couldn’t happen. They couldn’t let that happen.

They had to see that bringing him into the loop was the best and only option.

“Rayla, I do hope you know that when Runaan gets home, we have to have a talk.” Ethari said to her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

She sighed. “Janai told you already, didn’t she?”

He sighed back. “You know she isn’t doing this out of malice, Rayla. This is something we needed to know.”

Before the conversation could continue, there was a loud knock at the front door. Rayla beat Ethari to answering it, finding Claudia standing there waiting for a response, a worrying grin all over her face.

“Hi Rayla! I’m going to borrow you for a bit, hope your parents don’t mind, yes, okay, come!” Claudia spouted off without missing a beat, grabbing Rayla’s arm and dragging her out the door, leaving Ethari to be confused out of his mind nearby.

“What in the name of everything are you doin?” Rayla asked with annoyance in her tone, but she was secretly grateful the raven-haired girl had gotten her away from more scolding.

“School’s over for the day! And I know Callum’s schedule- he usually likes to stay on campus for a bit longer after the day is done. I don’t really know why, it’s just his thing I guess, but I will sometimes wait for him in his house! Because he’ll hole himself up in his room and sulk a lot. Which is bullshit! So I don’t allow it if I can help it.” Claudia explained.

Rayla raised an eyebrow. “So you just break into his house and his room whenever you want because you refuse to let him have alone time?”

Claudia stopped, letting go of Rayla’s arm suddenly and looking her dead in the eye. “I probably come off as obnoxious to you, and that’s fine, because I don’t really care what everyone else says. But I have known Callum longer than almost everyone, and I know if he’s allowed to be alone, nine times out of ten his mental illnesses will get to him. He’s not much of a fighter when it comes to that either. I might be too doting or protective of him as well, but again, I don’t care. He’s a good kid, a wonderful person to everyone but himself. I promised myself a long time ago I wouldn’t give up on trying to get him to act like that to himself. Callum’s mental health is one of the only things I will not stand around and joke about.”

Rayla blinked in shock- what the hell? That was the fastest tone change she’d ever seen- and she’d seen Janai interact with Callum yesterday. She’d been ridiculously cheerful two seconds ago! She made a mental note not to mess around with Claudia when it came to Callum. “Right. Noted. Sorry.”

In a blink of an eye, Claudia went back to being her upbeat self. “Anyways! You should meet Ezran and Amaya too. Ezran’s his baby half-brother and Amaya is their aunt, but acts as their legal guardian because… well...” She paused. “I’m sure you can probably figure it out. But yeah! Amaya’s also deaf, so she speaks in ASL. She can read people’s lips though, and both Callum and his brother know ASL fluently. Ezran should be home right now, so he can translate for us if we end up holding a conversation.”

“Huh. One of the people I know, their name is Kazi, they know ASL too. You can tell Mrs. Amaya that if she ever ends up at the Sunforge Diner, she can have a waiter who can speak with her directly.”

Claudia snickered suspiciously. “Sunforge Diner? It has that new owner or manager there doesn’t it? I heard from Callum a week or two ago that Amaya had taken Ezran there while he was sleeping over at my place again. Amaya had an interesting fascination with that woman according to his brother.”

_ Oh.  _ “Well, I currently have two dads, so I’m not too surprised by the insinuation. I think you’re talking about Janai, actually. I know her too. Not sure about her um… sexual orientation.”

“Man, that’s too bad, cause if I knew about both parties enough, I’d be playing matchmaker so hard…” Claudia said with mischief, turning to slam her fist against the door of Callum’s home. “Oi! Ezran! Let me in, you know you want to!”

Rayla watched with amused dismay as Claudia nearly fell forward onto her face as the front door opened, revealing a smaller boy with poofy brown hair and blue eyes. He wore a playful smirk on his face. “Your boyfriend isn’t here, Clauds, maybe try again later.”

Rayla had never seen someone straighten up so fast.

“Ezran what the heck! He’s not my boyfriend and you know that! We’re just friends!” Claudia yelled nervously, glancing at Rayla.

“I’m kidding! Relax! Someone has to knock you down a peg every so often.” Ezran replied with a laugh, before his gaze reached the white-haired girl behind Claudia. “Oh hey! You’re that girl that brought Callum back a few nights ago! Hi!”

Rayla waved shyly at him, shrinking a little. She’d never really had friends before- how did one go about being confident enough to make them? “Hello.”

“Ezran, this is Rayla! Rayla, I already told you, but this is Ezran! We’ve come to break into your brother’s room again to surprise him when he actually comes home.” Claudia jumped in, happy to be the mediator.

Ezran raised an eyebrow. “Pretty sure his room is a disgusting mess right about now. He overslept this morning and had to rush to get ready, there’s probably clothes on his floor, he probably left his computer on and I don’t even want to think about what he might have on that thing, and it probably stinks in there. Boy things, you know?”

“Ezran I’m going to pretend you didn’t just insinuate your brother watches the nasty stuff. He’s so innocent it hurts. I’d be more likely to bet he left a tab up where he was looking up cat pictures or something.” Claudia said bluntly, pushing past him and welcoming herself inside the house.

“Um… can I come in too?” Rayla asked softly, cringing internally at how nervous she sounded. This shouldn’t be this hard!

Ezran blinked, having almost forgotten she was even there. “Oh, yeah, sure! But if you run into my aunt, she’ll probably stop you to ask some questions. Neither of us got to really get to know you that night because you just vanished after you handed my brother off.”

“To be fair it was pretty late at night and I didn’t think you wanted to socialize with a strange girl on your doorstep.”

He shrugged, moving to let her in. She stepped inside carefully, taking in the surroundings of the house with slight interest. It was a nice house in general, looked well cared for, all of the niceties. Rayla didn’t want to be the one to call it ordinary, but that’s what it was overall. But it seemed rude to say as such.

“Rayla come on! Stop staring at nothing, come meet Amaya!” Claudia said, bounding over and grabbing her by the arm again. Said woman had been standing a little ways away in another room, aware of the guests and glancing over every so often.

“Amaya! Good afternoon! I don’t think you and Rayla got to properly introduce yourselves a few nights back!” Claudia started, nudging the white-haired girl a little closer into the spotlight.

“Um… hello. I’m Rayla, sorry for the weird first impression earlier.” She said, a little uncomfortable under Amaya’s gaze.

“ _ Nice to meet you, Rayla. I do apologize for almost assaulting you that night- I was worried about Callum and had never seen you before. I know that’s not exactly a great excuse, but I am truly sorry for how I acted. I hope you made it home safely that night. Thank you for taking care of him.”  _ Ezran translated as Amaya signed.

“It’s alright.” Rayla replied honestly, feeling a little better about her situation. “I could’ve had bad intentions for all you knew. I just moved here recently, after all. Despite being neighbors I’m still a stranger.”

Amaya’s eyes widened. “ _ You’re with the family that just moved into that house! I’ve been meaning to go over and introduce myself with the boys. Actually, you know what, this actually might be better. Do you think you could tell your parents to come over? I would be happy to treat you all to dinner with some lovely banter. Unless you’re busy later, that is.” _

“Uhm..” Rayla blanched. “Well, Ethari’s home right now, but I don’t think Runaan has come back from work yet…”

“Mr. Runaan is your dad?!” Ezran shouted suddenly, startling everyone.

“What?” Rayla asked, confused.

“Mr. Runaan! He’s my new teacher! You’re his daughter?!” Ezran paused, looking over at his aunt again. “ _ Even better! I’d also love to get to know Ezran’s new teacher-  _ Aunt Amaya! You traitor!”

Oh, right. Part of moving here meant that Runaan had to get a new job, and he’d ended up being hired by the city’s elementary school. It wasn’t like him to enjoy being around children, but a job’s a job, Rayla supposed. There was a sneaky little upside to it though- kids were most likely to be loud mouths about things, and if there was a chance that one of them had extra abilities, he would jump on it.

“Yeah, it was one of the first jobs he was offered. Funny coincidence I guess.”

“Ha! Ezran can’t get away with being a little turd now. Your teacher’s gonna know where you live!” Claudia laughed.

He groaned, burying his face in his hands as Bait the bulldog sauntered over to him. “That’s what Callum said too.”   
  


* * *

Callum always liked to stay on campus by himself after school. It was something about spending time in a place that was always so noisy, so loud, where it was now nearly silent with only the gentle breeze and the warming rays of the sinking sun to keep him company. The outdoors was always a catalyst of feeling free. It helped him forget about everything- all his worries. Nothing to fear, nothing to fight. Even if it’s temporary.

He sighed, coming down from the clouds as one of the many soul song memories played in his head. Or, perhaps, it was just a regular song he’d heard before. The line between to two was always blurred- unable to remember where a tune came from, a soul, or an artist. In the end, he supposed it didn’t really matter. A created song was capable of holding just as much importance as a song that had been born. He’d found before that a song someone created and shared publicly could stick in his head for weeks, becoming all he’d think about. Pretending that maybe that was his soul song, but it never lasted.

It was a rare day that thinking about the fact he didn’t have a soul song didn’t make him upset or angry. Instead, thinking about it made him curious- undyingly so. Even though he said he didn’t care about the reason for its absence, it was nigh impossible to actually hold to that statement. It was a gigantic mystery, something with no explanation dangling right in front of his nose. He wanted to know. He wanted to know who he was, and figuring out why he didn’t have a soul song was undoubtedly an important step into answering that question.

Either way, the sun was starting to set, and he should be heading home now. If he stayed any longer, he would most likely start getting spam calls from either Ezran or Claudia, or both at the same time, wondering where he was. He understands their worry- his mental battles have made him do stupid, irrational things before, and he supposed it made them nervous not knowing if he was okay or not. He just wished they would trust in him a little more. Despite his past choices, he doesn’t believe he’d ever do something terribly permanent. Not like that, anyways. God forbid he be the reason someone loses someone else and develops the mindset he has- a fate he would never wish on anyone.

“Wake from a dream where I was stuck losing my teeth, lucky for me it was all fake, or not what it seemed…” Callum breathed to himself as he walked home. He found that the song  _ Kitchen Fork  _ was banging around in his noggin. It was like that a lot for him- random songs popping into the forefront of his mind.

What he wasn’t expecting when he came through the front door of his house, humming along to the song in his head, was for his eyes to find their gaze aimed at the dining room, where six people stared back at him, in the middle of a meal. His aunt, Ezran, and Claudia were looking at him with annoyance for having come home so late, Rayla-  _ Rayla was at his fucking dining room table-  _ looked at him with more of nervous curiosity, and the other two he didn’t know seemed confused. His humming stopped, his mouth dropping open as he furrowed his eyebrows in an attempt to process what he was seeing.

“Um… hello?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> coronavirus killed my college so everything's online now. I have an excuse to stay on my computer all day! You'd think I'd be able to write the chapters out fast again but like. minecraft is fun
> 
> Social links:  
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> DISCORD: https://discord.gg/nM7XTfQ  
> (Please do note that when joining the server you have to post in the #introductions channel first so I can assign you a proper role and then you'll have access to the main chat~)


	7. Quiet Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum didn’t know how his night ended up like this, sitting at his dining room table with Rayla’s parents along with his own family. Oh, plus Claudia. Why was Claudia even still there? He knew Soren would probably be sent over by their father to collect her later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello I am alive and avoiding homework weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee  
> Quiet Water is a great song in general but the cover of it I used for this chapter is fucking AMAZING,,,, im cry
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link~)

Callum didn’t know how his night ended up like this, sitting at his dining room table with Rayla’s parents along with his own family. Oh, plus Claudia. Why was Claudia even still there? He knew Soren would probably be sent over by their father to collect her later.

Everyone was staring at him expectantly. The conversation had turned to the topic of his unusual Soul abilities the moment he sat down to join the group. Callum didn’t appreciate the attention- he’d gotten enough pestering about his powers from Claudia to last a lifetime. But the stern and curious stares he was getting from Rayla’s fathers were making him even more uncomfortable. He could see Claudia and Rayla looking at him with slight concern, as if they were picking up on his immense discomfort and were ready to act if necessary. He registered the sweetness of the gestures in the back of his head somewhere, but his focus was still on the strangers staring him down.

“Do… Do I have to? I’ve locked my powers away for so long, and for good reason. I personally would be more comfortable not unlocking them…” Callum mumbled, his gaze turning downwards to his lap. He heard a small sigh from one of the two men.

“Listen, Mr. Callum, it is important that we know what you’re capable of. Otherwise we would have come over here for nothing.” The first one said-- Callum thinks his name was Runaan.

He saw Amaya give him a dirty look for the notion as he sighed. He really did hate being put on the spot like this, but at the same time, it was interesting in a way. Perhaps if he proved himself here, then whatever secrets Rayla was keeping from him would be accessible then. With another sigh, he focused on the mental lock inside his mind and let it loose. He immediately was flooded with the soul songs of everyone in the room, unwillingly singing to him all the same. It still made him a little sick to think about.

“How do you want me to prove this? Who’s song should I describe?” He asked with a huff.

“Mine.” Replied Runaan, tone as steely as ever.

Callum grumbled in response.  _ Fine. You want to force me out of my comfort zone like this? I’ll do more than just describe your soul song. I’ll speak it.  _ He focused intently, blocking out the soul songs he already knew and heard before, which left only two. Two new soul songs, both almost polar opposites to each other. Considering the closeness of the two of them, it was a little bit harder for him to distinguish who was who based on distance, but he took a wild guess based on the tone of the soul.

With a sudden motion of his head, he closed his eyes and began to hum along with the soul song he’d zeroed in on. He heard cello and organ wailing and moaning together, in a dark symphony that radiated despair and seriousness. Humming and swaying his head to the movement and tone of the cello part, he kept his eyes closed and missed the looks of awe from everyone at the table, along with the look of disbelief and shock from Runaan. He continued on with his performance until he heard the song start to repeat in on itself, to which he stopped and opened his eyes again. Seeing the faces of his audience caused him to shrink into his chair even more, a spark of anxiety beginning to fester in him.

“We-well? Does that satisfy your needs?” Callum asked with a slight stutter, pulling his arms in closer to his chest in a tell-tale act of nervousness.

It was at that moment that Callum remembered why he never wanted to allow his power to return in the first place, even if it was for a short moment. It stole the control of his mind, dragging it towards the other unfamiliar soul song in the room as the others he already knew were drowned out. He vaguely registered that people at the table were talking about him, to him, calling his name, but that reality was far from him now as this new song dragged him away.

There was soft rushing of water, opening way to a plucking harp with a soft flute following close behind. Gentle swaying of the melody gave way to vocal accompaniment. Most of the musical elements all sang to the same notes and tune, with some variation. Strings entered in where the vocals faded away, and the world around him began to take form in color. Dark, warm background colors of black mixed with purple and magenta, little floating orbs of yellow light running across his vision with crystal blue waters rippling around him. Callum couldn’t remember the last time he’d been taken over by a Soul Song- clearly a very long time ago, but part of him suspected this wasn’t just an outcome of his ability. Perhaps his synesthesia had something to do with it as well, this grand spectacle of wonder and magic. He knew it wasn’t real, in the end, but it was rather something else.

Low drum hits echoed in his ears as piano and strings carried his thoughts along the waters he saw in front of him. The flute returned, and all of the elements of the soul song came to envelop him all at once, solidly, as they began to soften and fade away. It was only then that the visions of color he was seeing began to fade along with them, and his reality started coming back into view. He was met with concerned stares from his family, and confused looks from his guests.

“Callum! Callum please, are you okay?” Claudia asked, voice laced with fear.

He shook his head rather violently, snapping back to reality fully. “Yeah… sorry, I just. My ability, it sometimes can be stronger than my own will. My mind got carried away. Um… Ethari, right? Your soul song is… beautiful. I don’t have the words to describe it.”

Apparently this was the wrong thing to say, as Runaan’s eyes narrowed and his lips suddenly set themselves into a scowl. “I told you to listen to  _ my  _ song and my song  _ only.  _ You had no right to hear his soul song as well.”

Callum blinked, taken aback by the sudden hostility. He watched Amaya as she glared death into the side of Runaan’s head, while Rayla looked shocked and embarrassed, and Ezran and Claudia only looked even more confused. Ethari had a slight frown on his face, and for a moment Callum thought that frown was directed at him, and he truly was in the wrong, but he noticed the other man’s disappointed eyes flicker to his husband.

“Excuse me?! You have no right to talk to Callum that way! You literally just asked him to show off his ability and he even said he wasn’t comfortable with doing so, and you forced him to anyway! And now you yell at him for an accidental side effect of doing what you asked?!” Claudia broke the silence first, screeching her fury at Runaan.

“Sweetheart, it’s fine, really. He clearly didn’t do it out of malice.” Ethari soothed gently, placing his hand on Runaan’s shoulder.

“No.” Callum interrupted with a sigh, commanding the attention of the room as he let his gaze fall to the table. “No, you’re right. I was given a specific task and I couldn’t even keep my ability in line for more than five minutes. I’m sorry.”

“Callum…”

Callum couldn’t tell who it was that had called him name in pity, but the thought of someone pitying him made his stomach curl. He snarled.

“ _ Don’t ‘ _ Callum’ me! I don’t want your robotic pity every time you think I’ll slip into anything below your accepted quota of happiness! I am strong enough to hold myself together when I know I’m wrong.” He snapped coldly, defiantly, as he squared his shoulders and looked back to Runaan. “I’m sorry. I had no right to listen in on your husband’s soul. My inability to control it is why I lock my power away all of the time, but that’s no excuse for still allowing it to happen. I won’t let it happen again.”

Runaan stared at him almost with a look of being impressed, and a little shocked that that was the reply given. Everyone else just fixed the man with death glares. It was at that point that Callum shut his eyes in concentration, and imagined a heavy-duty lock being hung on a door handle labeled ‘Soul Perception’.

It was at that point that Amaya began to sign furiously without breaking eye contact with Runaan.

“ _ Kids, I request that you all go to Callum’s room and close the door. I want to talk to these gentlemen alone.  _ But aunt Amaya, they don’t speak ASL!” Ezran translated and immediately protested against.

“ _ I don’t care. I’ll write my words down on a piece of paper. Go upstairs.” _

Callum sighed again, standing up from his seat without a second thought. He signed quickly to Amaya, thanking her for the dinner, before scooting his chair back into place and walking off to the stairway without waiting for the rest of his friends. He heard a yelp, most likely from Claudia, and hurried shuffling as they followed him.

“Callum, wait up!” Ezran called after him.

Callum specifically ignored them until he reached his room, where he sat down at his computer and began going through the motions of logging in. He listened to the others following him in one by one with his back turned.

“Welcome to my room.” Callum said dryly as Claudia shut the door behind her, as per Amaya’s request.

“Callum. You shouldn’t have let Runaan talk to you like that. You didn’t do anything wrong!” Rayla protested immediately.

“I don’t know how you talk to your father, Rayla, but I’m not going to disagree with the truth.” He snapped back, a little too harsh for his liking.

“Callum!” Claudia barked, shocked at his temper. “That was uncalled for and you know it!”

“What, you expect me to apologize again? I have homework to do and I intend to get it done so I can go to bed at a reasonable hour tonight. I have board games in my closet if you want, but don’t touch anything else. Don’t bother me.” He replied stiffly, snapping his headphones over his ears.

The three of them only gaped at him as he spun around in his computer chair and began blasting what sounded like a slowed down version of the song  _ Supernova.  _ Claudia sighed heavily, shoulders sagging and settling herself on his bed.

“Ezran, can you find us a good board game to play?” She requested softly, keeping a sly eye on the back of Callum’s head.

“Is… is he okay?” Rayla asked tentatively.

Claudia sighed. “It’s been a very long time since he’s actually chosen to let his ability run rampant of his own accord. The night he met you doesn’t count- he was delirious and wasn’t aware of the block having lifted. He’s also choosing to be a complete  _ jerkface  _ of his own accord too!” She jabbed that last bit over at Callum, but he wasn’t listening.

“It’s alright, Claudia. I won’t hold it against him.” Rayla tried.

“That’s not the point!” Claudia grumbled in frustration, grabbing a fist full of her raven hair. “He’s clearly pissed off from the interaction and has no right to take it out on us!”

“Callum has a habit of saying or doing the wrong things sometimes when he’s in his own bubble of anger or self-hate.” Ezran continued quietly, having retrieved a copy of  _ Monopoly  _ from his brother’s closet. “He does his best to make up for it or justify it. Usually the former. He once told me that he could keep messing up and then fixing things and no one would be overly bitter with him in the long run because they excuse him for his mental illness. Which we all kinda are guilty of.”

“Don’t even get me started on how many times he’s said his mental illness isn’t an excuse for his actions and yet we still let it…” Claudia mumbled.

“So… so we all have some growing and changing to do. Us, for Callum, and Callum for us and himself.” Rayla decided with a nod.

“I guess so.” Claudia mumbled again. “Maybe your little secret group of mysterious people could help him. I’m not too stupid, I can tell it has something to do with finding people with extra abilities. Callum’s biggest issues have always been related to his own.”

“Runaan’s not someone who really… cares about the feelings of others. Except for Ethari I guess. I swear I’ve never seen him smile once the entire time I’ve lived with him.”

“So… Runaan and Ethari are your dads now?” Claudia asked, jumping on the subject change.

Rayla nodded. “Yeah. They have been my adopted parents ever since my real parents… well, you know. I feel like they’re polar opposites of each other in terms of personality.”

“Mr. Runaan seems patient enough with my class though!” Ezran butted in as he set up the monopoly board. “Maybe because he has to or he’d get fired or something. Aw man, it’s less nice to know it’s because of a hidden motive…”

There was a sudden commotion from downstairs. Ezran and Claudia cringed while Rayla looked at them in slight panic, looking for answers.

“Ah… Amaya must be really pissed. Relax, she’s not gonna beat up your dads… probably. She probably just stood up really fast and knocked her chair over.”

“Shh, Ezran, look!” Claudia said, pointing her finger towards Callum slightly.

The three of them all turned to look at the fourth member of the room, to find him moving his head and body in a strange way. Rayla cocked her head and raised an eyebrow, about to ask the others what on Earth was was doing, but Claudia answered her before she could even open her mouth.

“Callum does this a lot, it’s so funny and adorable. When he has his headphones on and listening to songs, he’ll sometimes get into it so much that he ‘moves with the flow of the music’ as he puts it. Something about better sound quality with headphones over earbuds. It’s easy for him to get lost in his music.” She explained with a goofy grin. “See how his legs bounce rather violently like that? That’s his way of counting out the beats of a measure. All of this dedication would make you think he should be interested in a career of music, but he’s still a die-hard artist.”

Rayla blinked, turning back to stare at Callum as he grooved, unknowing that he had an audience. A soft smile fell upon her lips as she considered Claudia’s words.

“Hmm. Cute, indeed.”

* * *

“So are we going to tell his family? Are we going to bring him into the Moonshadow protection?” Rayla asked her dads the moment they stepped back into their own house.

Runaan sighed. “Rayla. I get that you want to bring in your new friends, but I personally need some more time to think about this.”

“What? Why?! He’s got extra soul abilities, isn’t one of our main goals to keep those with extra abilities safe? We have to let them be informed if we’re going to do that! You’d just let Callum stay in the dark? What if Aaravos finds him?”

“Enough!” Runaan snapped, silencing her. “I understand the positives. But there are heavy negatives in this situation as well. I see that your friend Callum has a lot of… unresolved issues with his own self revolving around his untrained abilities. I know you want to bring him in, with other people who also have extra abilities, in the hopes that it will do him some good. But you must understand, Rayla, that if Aaravos was to hear that we’ve taken in a new person to protect, then he’ll know that there’s another person he can target. That will put him in more danger than he’s in now, in the dark. Do you understand this?”

“I…” Rayla faltered, realizing the possibility. “But that’s  _ if! _ There’s no guarantee Aaravos will hear anything about this!”

“Rayla, sweetie…” Ethari stepped in, taking a more gentle tone. “We are in a new town, an area that Aaravos has been in longer than we have. Now that he saw you, he knows we’re here, and for all we know, he could have new friends. New friends that might be friends with Miss Amaya, or the parents of kids that Ezran knows, and things can travel. We aren’t accusing your friends of being spies, but we have to live carefully. So, please, let us have some time to think it over.”

“...Fine.” Rayla relented with a sigh. She nodded firmly, leaving the two to talk alone as she trudged up the stairs to her own room, shutting the door behind her.

As soon as she did, she collapsed onto her bed and screamed into her pillow. Did her parents always have to be this stubborn? So what if there was a slight possibility that Aaravos could somehow find out about Callum’s abilities due to his possible affiliation with the Moonshadow group? Callum had more than one extra soul ability! That should’ve been enough to convince them, considering the only other person they knew in existence that had more than one was Aaravos himself.

Maybe they would be selfish, and take him in on the premise of ‘let’s get to him first before Aaravos does, and teach him our ways so he ends up like how we want’. It was slimy as all hell, sure, but adults always had ulterior motives. She didn’t care so much for what reasons they had for being around Callum. She just wanted him to be included.

Rayla hated to admit it, but she was a little scared. She and Callum had almost parted ways after the Sunforge Diner incident, they’d almost not become friends. That prospect scared the hell out of her and she didn’t know why. Callum, Claudia, Ezran… they were her first ‘real’ friends. She wanted to keep them, desperately. She was afraid that if Aaravos messed things up and made her move again, she would lose them. But she also feared that Callum and the rest would grow tired of her constant secrets, and they would leave her for it. She didn’t think she could handle that.

But for some reason, the thought of having to leave Callum behind bothered her the most. Why? Why did she feel so attached to Callum already? They’d only been friends for a few days, and they’d barely hung out at all in that timespan, but she felt so comfortable with him, like she’d known him for years? Was it because he knew her Soul Song already? That he knew her in the deepest detail possible and still wanted to be her friend despite the fast-pace of it all?

Was it because he’d seen her private ritual for her ability?

What was the reason?

Why was Callum so important to her already?

...Why?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've begun to write another AU for TDP too. It's lowkey (ok highkey) inspired by the finale of Steven Universe Future. It's fine. Nothing is wrong.
> 
> Anyways this chapter took a little longer cause I didn't quite know how I wanted to write the dinner scene out and stuff. Heck.
> 
> Social links:  
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> DISCORD: https://discord.gg/nM7XTfQ  
> (Please do note that when joining the server you have to post in the #introductions channel first so I can assign you a proper role and then you'll have access to the main chat~)


	8. Catharsis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The concept of sharing one’s soul song with another person, or even a group of people, was a deep and psychological concept that Callum found himself thinking about a lot. Mainly because he was never going to be able to go through such a rite of passage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am. Alive. Welcome to fuck city
> 
> I'm somehow still going with this. I can't remember the last time I got this far with a multi-chapter fic. But I know it was a LONG ASS time ago.
> 
> Anyways I'm kinda going thru a low point rn cause of quarantine and drama and general feeling like a shit person because people don't think about the subtext of their actions. Have an SOS chapter while I refuse to allow myself to cry

The concept of sharing one’s soul song with another person, or even a group of people, was a deep and psychological concept that Callum found himself thinking about a lot. Mainly because he was never going to be able to go through such a rite of passage. Offering up the purest form of who you are to another being was something almost cathartic. You go your whole life listening to a song you’ve known for every waking moment, knowing almost nothing else in a strange way, and it becomes a calling card for your own thoughts, your hopes, your dreams. It becomes your second name, and sometimes it might feel strange to hear someone call you by your real name after being enveloped in your purest self for so long.

Ah, but then again, how would he know?

Lying atop his bed, tucked underneath the covers as he stared up at his darkness-hidden ceiling, his phone plinked softly with instrumental songs he kept stored in a playlist titled simply  _ Chillwave.  _ If he were expected to come up with actually creative names for all of his playlists, his brain would surely have strained itself long ago. Callum knew he was supposed to be sleeping, it was surely past midnight by now and he had school in the coming hours, but the events that had transpired earlier kept his brain awake. How he’d made a complete fool of himself in front of Rayla’s parents, and how rude he’d been to her in the aftermath. But after living his life making so many mistakes, his earlier actions didn’t even surprise him anymore. Of course he lashed out. Of course he would act like an entire dick just because something may have slightly tipped him off.

He really needed to get some help.

The amount of times Callum had considered putting himself in isolation was more numerous that he could count. He knew damn well it wouldn’t solve anything in the long run, but when you’re as messed up in the head as he was, your mind starts supplying ridiculous solutions. He sighed heavily, knowing he wouldn’t get to sleep at all at this rate. The rest of his house was asleep already, so it wasn’t like he’d get scolded for doing what he was about to do. Besides, it helped him when he had the balls to do it.

He hauled himself out of bed, remembering to put actual pants on this time instead of wandering out in just his boxers (that was a story for another time) and headed to his window. With a careful tug, he pulled the locks away from the windowsill and hefted the window up, crawling through it to get to the roof. Amaya always hated it when he went on the roof, since he was on the second floor and feared what could happen to him if he were to fall. But sitting alone on the rooftop in the dead of night was just as cathartic to him as the subject he was thinking about earlier.

He wasn’t going to pretend like anything he did in his life was normal. Abnormal people lived abnormal lives, and his was no exception. There was nothing normal about the swirling storm of negativity that infected his thoughts and personality. Oh, how he so wished that he could fix himself, but Katolis City was still somehow bumfucky enough not to have a therapist anywhere nearby. Now wasn’t that some shit?

He had his phone out on the roof tiles with him as he wrapped his arms around his knees, his head tilted back to look at the clear, starry sky. When he was younger, being outside at night was a different experience. Back then he still had a weak block for his ability, and because of that fact, he would still sometimes hear the soul songs of people in their houses, but severely toned down. He thought again about the idea of a therapist, scoffing at himself. Seriously” How could he consider a therapist? Why would he have his aunt pay to talk to someone he probably wouldn’t even listen to in the first place? He didn’t even like to listen to himself.

Callum stared down at his phone in distaste. He loved listening to his playlists on a calm, clear night on the roof. But something this time just wasn’t doing it for him. Maybe because of the ability that Rayla brought out of him? It had certainly been more… satisfying. Enveloping. Better, in a way he couldn’t quite place. He knew this… Soul Projection worked with soul songs, maybe it could work with just any old song in his head? It shouldn’t matter what type of song it was, after all. At the end of the day, anything he projected out into the open space around him was just still a memory of a song in his brain. So maybe it wasn’t too ridiculous to try.

He paused the music on his phone, pushing a hand into his pant pocket. There, inside, sat the little soul orb Rayla had given to him. It was funny, even in a time that he should be sleeping, and the orb itself being the last thing he should be thinking about, somewhere in his unconscious mind, he remembered to take the orb with him outside onto the roof. He closed his eyes, squeezing his fingers around the object gently, and focused again on the song his phone had just been playing.

And just like before, something changed in the air, and suddenly, he wasn’t so alone with his silence.

* * *

_ Well, this was certainly new,  _ Rayla thought to herself in a haze as she blinked away the sleep from her eyes. There was absolutely no reason she should have woken up just now, except there was, because for the briefest moment, her soul had felt a tiny tug in a random direction, as if something out there was calling to her. But that didn’t make any sense, did it? Because nothing could pull on her soul. Could it?

She sat up in her dark room, hand flailing around on the nightstand next to her bed, trying to grab ahold of her phone without being able to see it. She finally did get a hold on it after a few more seconds of blind feeling around, and she pressed the button on the side of the device to wake it up from its own sleep. The phone read back to her  _ ‘1:24am’  _ and she sighed. What on earth was she doing awake right now?

Yet, something stopped her from just putting her phone down and going back to sleep. A faint noise, something soft and flowing, coming from somewhere out beyond her room, out beyond her house. Curiously, she instead got out of bed, shining her phone flashlight to make sure she didn’t trip on anything on the floor, and made her way over to her window. She pulled a few of the blinds down, peeking out onto the lit streets of her neighborhood. At first glance, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but she could still hear a faint noise that seemed to continue on instead of being just one beat of a sound. She realized with a faint  _ ‘oh’ _ that it sounded like a song. There wasn’t anyone out there to share a song with her, though?

Scanning over the area she could see from her window again, Rayla realized that there was a single thing abnormal. She felt an amused smile creep onto her sleepy face as her eyes locked onto a figure sitting atop the roof of a house- Callum’s house. Despite the fog of sleep still addling her brain a little bit, the pieces were obvious enough to be put together. Callum was there, on the roof, at this god awful hour, using one of her soul energy pieces to project a song again. She chuckled to herself, rolling her eyes. This kid was ridiculous. That must have been what had woken her up- somehow, her soul knew that a piece of itself was being used elsewhere, and it was notifying her of that fact, even in her sleep.

Part of her wanted to go out there with him.

_ Woah there, back it up Rayla. No you don’t. You wanna go back to bed.  _ Rayla thought to herself again, feeling a slight heat rise to her cheeks. Her brain was moving too fast with the concept of being close to Callum. She had never made friends like this before, but she at least knew that people usually don’t get all extremely comfortable with each other like that in the span of a few days. Lord, have mercy on her.

Instead, she unlocked her phone fully, pushing that thought in her brain down into the void where it belonged, and began to text him instead. She hoped that he’d brought his phone with him on the roof, for whatever reason.

_ Rayla [1:27am] _

_ Oi, sad prince. What in the name of god are you doing on the roof of your house at this ungodly hour? _

She sent the message before she could chicken out on what exactly she’d typed. Was that too casual? She’d literally just told herself a few seconds ago not to move so fast-

_ Callum [1:28am] _

_ Catharsis, my dear Rayla. Couldn’t sleep, so I decided to be a rebellious bad boy and sit on the roof like a little shit, knowing my aunt would flip out if she caught me. _

My dear Rayla? Was he moving too fast now?

_ Rayla [1:28am] _

_ Ha ha, very funny. I think the lack of sleep is getting your head there a little bit, big-shot. Don’t you have school tomorrow? You’re gonna be a walking zombie. _

_ Callum [1:29am] _

_ Not like I usually get good sleep anyways. It’s unfair that you don’t have to worry about school in the morning all the time. So… what are you doing up anyways? _

She paused. School in the morning, huh? Maybe she should talk to Runaan and Ethari about attending public school. She knew that they’d probably tell her no, explaining that being in the public was bad for her, that Aaravos could get to her, blah blah blah, but she didn’t care. If she could go to the same school as Callum and Claudia, she could probably hang out with them more. Oh, how she wanted to.

_ Rayla [1:31am] _

_ Ah, this might sound weird. Sorry that my explanation might be a little wonky. My soul… it woke me up. I felt it tugging slightly in a direction outside my house. I looked out the window and found you sitting on your roof like a weirdo. I think my soul knew you were using a piece of it again. _

_ Callum [1:32am] _

_ Shit. I’m sorry, it’s my fault you’re awake. I can stop, I was just projecting a song that I can just as easily listen to through my phone. _

_ Rayla [1:33am] _

_ No no, it’s okay! I had no idea that my soul could even do such a thing. All of this is just as new to me as it is to you. I just wish I could listen to the song with you. _

Rayla frowned, wondering if that was too forward of her to say. Why did she have to be so bad at talking to people?

_ Callum [1:35am] _

_ I have an idea. Open your window. _

She blinked, thoroughly confused. What was he getting at? Still, she decided to go along with his suggestion, managing to open up her bedroom window without too much noise. She could see him in the distance, shifting himself along the roof, sitting back down in the corner closest to her house. Rayla waved a little at him with a shy smile, and she felt relief bubble in her chest when he waved back. She couldn’t quite see his face despite the street lights, but she imagined that he was smiling back.

_ Callum [1:37am] _

_ Okay. I’m going to attempt? To increase the volume of my projection. Maybe you’ll be able to hear it better then. I’m sorry that I can’t really do more about it. I’d jump off the roof but knowing me, I’d probably land wrong, and even if I didn’t, I’d have to wake my aunt up to let me back in through the front door. She’d be really pissed. _

_ Rayla [1:38am] _

_ Let’s avoid jumping off roofs, yeah? And stop apologizing, Callum. It’s okay. _

Rayla waited for a moment after sending the last text, finding that she could look anywhere outside but at him. This felt a little awkward, and stupid, but soon enough, the faint noise of the song she’d been hearing before grew in volume, and she could suddenly hear everything so much better. It wasn’t surprising to her that the melody in itself sounded a little melancholy, just like the last time he’d let her listen. But something about this new melody was different as it hit her ears. She let out a soft gasp as she took in the slow, low piano and the almost dark sounding notes. She was frozen in place for a little, before she blinked herself out of the shock trance, realizing that her eyelids felt wet. Was she… crying?

_ Rayla [1:41am] _

_ Oh… you said catharsis, didn’t you? Callum… is this how you’ve been feeling lately? _

_ Callum [1:42am] _

_ It’s nothing to worry about, Rayla. Like I said, I kinda exist within sad music. It’s good to me in a way I can’t explain. You could bring to me the saddest piece of music you know and I probably wouldn’t even bat an eye, where others might cry at the pure emotion it could sing. _

_ Rayla [1:44am] _

_ But it is worrying! Thinking about how you live, the idea of you living like this is awful! That you go through every day feeling some sort of negative thing that can be described or symbolized with a song like this… and you, being so used to it, that it doesn’t even affect you? This isn’t normal, Callum. So yes, it worries me. _

She could see him facing away from her direction outside of her open window. She cringed; had she said something too close to a nerve? It had only been a couple of days, being able to talk to him. She didn’t know all of his patterns and quirks yet. Rayla hated to think that she might’ve slipped her foot into another beartrap so soon.

_ Callum [1:46am] _

_ You know, everyone in my life had said that to me in some form or another, and I usually just brush it off like I always do. But… for some reason, when you say it, it makes me stop and think about it, just for a second. That’s never happened before. You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you? _

_ Rayla [1:47am] _

_ I guess so! But it’s important that you think about yourself sometimes, you know. _

She bit her lip.

_ Rayla [1:47am] _

_...It’s important to me. _

_ Callum [1:48am] _

_ To you, huh? _

_ Callum [1:48am] _

_ Interesting. _

_ Callum [1:49am] _

_ You would care for me so vastly despite us having only met a few days ago? _

_ Rayla [1:50am] _

_ It may have only been a few days ago, but I’m not lying when I tell you that you’ve already changed my life. I already told you that I’ve never had real friends before you. I know that I might be moving a little fast, perhaps too fast for you, but despite knowing that, I can’t help but want to build our friendship up as fast as I can. There’s just… something about the concept of being friends with you that I can’t seem to resist. _

_ Callum [1:52am] _

_...You know, I kinda feel the same way. You’ve definitely changed my life already too. And while I can’t say the same about never having friends before, the idea of being friends with you just seems different compared to being friends with Claudia, or Soren, or even my little brother. It’s reeling me in and I don’t understand why. But one thing I know is that the mystery has become a bit of a target for my self-hate. Telling myself I’m being creepy for wanting to go this fast, to get close to you already, all of that. I don’t think I deserve you. _

There were definitely tears leaking from Rayla’s eyes now, she could feel them rolling down her cheeks, but she was unable to pinpoint the emotion that had brought them on. Sorrow for Callum? Relief that he was feeling the same way and she wasn’t being weird? Simply emotional because of the song he was projecting to her on a loop from a goddamn rooftop, of all things?

_ Rayla [1:54am] _

_ Don’t talk like that. For the record, I think you deserve me. Though perhaps I might be biased, considering this is me we’re talking about. It’s not like I had any standards. But for the record, you just being you is more than enough for me. _

_ Callum [1:55am] _

_ Me just being me? Did you forget how I’ve been to you the past few days? I don’t even know what it means to be myself. I don’t know what myself is in the first place. How could you want to socialize with someone that lost? _

_ Rayla [1:59am] _

_ I’m sorry that I can’t fully get you to understand that your mental struggles don’t define who you are yet. I swear to you, someday, that I will. You’re a wonderful person, Callum, underneath all of those thorns and barbed wires you’ve found growing around you. Even now, I know my words probably mean nothing to you. But that won’t stop me from wanting to see you get better. I may not know struggles like yours, but I know what struggles can do to people. What they do to people is not what that person is. You may feel lost, but that’s not who you are. You’ll be able to know who you are someday, and I want to be there to help you with every step, just like Claudia, and your brother, and your aunt. I promise. _

Rayla let out a breath that she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding when typing out her last text. She wondered briefly if she’d come on too strong there, but in a surprising turn, she shook those thoughts out of her head and stuck to her guns for once.

_ Callum [2:02am] _

_ Rayla? _

_ Rayla [2:02am] _

_ Yes? _

_ Callum [2:03am] _

_...thank you. _

_ Rayla [2:03am] _

_ Of course. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link~)  
> You really should listen to the chapter 8 song counterpart for this one, ngl. Idk how many of you readers actually listen to the playlist while reading these, but I'm telling you it really helps bring it to life even more.
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr! Ask me stuff about my fics!  
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)


	9. Goëtia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum could tell that there was something terribly wrong around him based on the sudden change of the atmosphere. It was like a primal instinct. So powerful that he felt threatened, endangered, and he didn’t even know what the hell was going on. He’d been texting Rayla and projecting songs to her only ten minutes ago- now the air around him was silent again, Soul Projection scared back into remission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not gonna lie, the song counterpart for this chapter was a complete accident. I literally didn't even know it existed until like an hour ago. I was listening to Lucas King compositions and Goëtia was in the recommended. I have autoplay on so I didn't even click on it lmao. But I was interested when I listened to the first few seconds, and then I realized it was perfect for Aaravos. So here we are.
> 
> Also, you might have noticed I've changed my username. Symphoenae~ the same username I have for my tumblr, my art account on instagram, and now my discord. I felt that it was time to rebrand a little bit. Something that better suits my synesthesia fronting. Don't worry! It's still me!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link~)

Callum could tell that there was something terribly wrong around him based on the sudden change of the atmosphere. It was like a primal instinct. So powerful that he felt threatened, endangered, and he didn’t even know what the hell was going on. He’d been texting Rayla and projecting songs to her only ten minutes ago- now the air around him was silent again, Soul Projection scared back into remission. He thinks Rayla probably went back to bed, she hoped she did actually- he’d switched the song he’d been projecting to something more calming, trying to help her return to sleep after he’d rudely woken her up. It was one of the songs Callum used to help himself sleep as well. But now all of that was gone, and even though Rayla’s window was still open she’d stopped responding on her phone and had left his sight awhile back.

His skin was  _ crawling.  _ Something was terribly, horribly, disgustingly wrong. The hair on the back of his neck tingled. He cursed the street lights for being as dim as they were- perhaps if he could see better, he wouldn’t be this unsettled.

_ There is a way that you can see, Callum.  _ There was the voice in his head again, always popping up at the worst times. He knew what it was talking about. He could use his Soul Perception to hear any intruders, if there was any. And, depending on the volume, he could pinpoint exactly where that person or animal was standing in relation to himself. But did he really want to?

No, he didn’t. But sometimes people had to do things they didn’t want to do to potentially save their own lives. So, with a heavy heart, Callum unlocked the door in his mind again and curled up on himself. He wasn’t sure what could threaten him while he was on the roof for god’s sakes, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right.

And oh, was that feeling true. Because he immediately heard the anomaly as soon as that damn door opened.

It was a song he’d never heard. Then again, he hadn’t heard a lot of songs for the longest time, but there was just something so  _ unnerving  _ about this one. Dark violin, deep booming as its accompaniment, with some vocals coming in here and there. He didn’t want to think about what language the vocals seemed to be in. It was extremely unusual that a vocal part in a Soul Song was speaking actual words, but this week was just full of abnormalities, wasn’t it? He couldn’t get a break, could he?

“I can hear you there, you know.” Callum growled, though still blind to what person or animal was there. He assumed a human, because he’d never had an encounter with a dangerous animal in his life living in his neighborhood. It was two in the morning, and instead of going back into his room through the window he’d crawled through like an idiot, Callum had decided to confront his apparent watcher all while planting the seed of discovery about his power.

“You can  _ hear  _ me, can you?” A deep voice replied from somewhere below his range of vision- Callum was suddenly grateful he wasn’t sitting at the edge of the roof anymore. “How very curious… And how exactly can you hear me, when I haven’t yet made a single noise?”

_ Damn. This man catches on way too quick. _ “I don’t have to answer any questions a strange man asks me while standing on my property. Get out.” Callum snarled in a bout of uncharacteristic fierceness.

“A fighter as well as a mystery, you are.” The voice boomed with a low chuckle. “I wasn’t planning to hurt you, you know. I was simply taking a walk around this lovely neighborhood after meeting with a...friend of mine, and noticed some kid on their roof. I could hear music as I grew closer. It confused me- I know how technology works, despite what you might think. Your music didn’t sound like it was coming from a phone, or any sort of device. Tell me, young one, how were you producing that heart-tugging melody?”

“Did you not hear me the first time?” Callum snapped. “I said I wasn’t going to answer any strange man’s questions. Piss off. I won’t hesitate to call the cops.”

Another laugh came from the hidden area below him. “Well, perhaps I don’t have to be so strange to you. What would you like to know about me? I am willing to work to earn just a little bit of your trust. My question burns at me, you see? I must simply know how you did it.”

“If I play your stupid game, will you finally leave?”

“You have my word, young one.”

“Fine.” Callum relented, despite the voice in his head now screaming at him that this was never a good idea. “Who are you, then? What are you doing here?”

“My name is Aaravos. And like I said before, I was simply taking a walk after leaving the house of a friend of mine.” The voice--Aaravos-- said after a moment of silent consideration.

_ “Come on. Let’s go inside, have some lunch, and then plan on how to find your mystery girl later tonight. My dad shouldn’t be too occupied with what we’re gonna do. He’s been going out a lot lately to meet up with a new friend of his. Some dude called Aaravos.” _

Callum’s breath caught in his throat when he remembered where he’d heard the name before. This was the guy Claudia’s dad was meeting up with all the time? A part of him wondered if he should just trust this man, considering the roundabout way he knew of him, but there was still something stopping him. Callum questioned his trust of Viren, Claudia’s father, on a good day. That man has had the most radical opinions for as long as he could remember, who said Aaravos wasn’t the same? He didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of giving his trust out without knowing more.

“So you’re Mr. Viren’s friend, then.” It wasn’t a question. Callum hoped that fronting with surprising pre-knowledge would give him a foothold in the control of the situation.

“You’ve heard of me before?”

“I’m the goddamn neighbor of him, and I’ve lived here for the longest time. I think I’d know at least a little bit of the functions that go on in my circle of neighborhood.”

“I suppose that could be your explanation. Perhaps a less-interested party would accept that vague answer, but you won’t find me settling for anything. You must know him better than you let on; Viren and I had made an agreement to keep our meetings a secret.” Aaravos pressed.

“You want to keep your meetings a secret, huh? You two doing something illegal? Something nefarious? Something morally ambiguous that you don’t want it getting out?” Callum taunted. “Sounds like you’re trying to hide from something, or someone. Care to elaborate?”

“You seem very eager to keep me in the spotlight. Why don’t we just calm down for a moment?”

“I don’t  _ want  _ to calm down, Mr. Aaravos. I don’t know who the hell you are and you’re sitting here, talking to a minor at two in the morning. There is nothing stopping me from simply going back inside my room through my window, but I want to make sure you  _ get the hell out of here  _ before I do so. Your soul song is unsettling and I have never heard a soul song that makes me feel so threatened, so if you would be so kind as to stop treating me like I’m your old pal, that would be great, thank you. I don’t trust you with a single bit of my body and I don’t expect that I will. If you wanted me to trust you, there were better ways of making first contact other than stalking me from below my roof vision and only speaking to me when I spoke first.”

There was silence for a long moment, and Callum felt a bubble of pride in his chest that he rendered a potential threat speechless. But the moment didn’t last.

“You can hear my soul song, and yet I didn’t choose to share it with you. That’s how you were able to realize I was there? How… interesting. Very interesting…”

“My ability to do shit that you find interesting is none of your goddamn business.” Callum snapped again. “Yes, I can hear your fucking soul song despite your blocks, who gives a damn. I can still hear it and it’s been looping for our entire conversation and every time I listen it just makes me even more unwilling to trust you. No, I’m not going to give you an explanation as to how I can hear your soul song. I answered your question. Now  _ leave.” _

Another pause. One might have thought that Aaravos had left, but Callum could still hear his song loud and clear, unmoved.

“Very well.” Aaravos said finally. “I am impressed with your ability to determine motives before you even look a person in the eye. You are, most likely, correct, not to trust me. But it doesn’t matter, because you’re just a kid with a useless ability of the soul, and I have more power than you could even hope to imagine. Warn your neighbor all you want about my true nature, he will not believe you over me. We will most likely meet again, but the circumstances will be vastly different.”

“Are you done yet?”

“Know this, young  _ Callum. _ ” Aaravos bit in his low tone. “I have no need to… take care of you as of now. But get in my way somehow, in any type of way, I will not hesitate to kill you. Kill you in the worst way I know. You felt threatened before? Feel threatened now. That’s my promise.”

Callum stayed silent, stunned by how fast Aaravos’s tone changed, as he listened to the soul song of the dangerous man fade away until it was out of his range. He could feel his hands shaking, and he knew that the rest of his body would join them in a few minutes. That… that was  _ not  _ okay. None of what just happened was okay. He should’ve just crawled back into his room like a coward and he wouldn’t have had to hear any of that.

He managed to re-lock his Soul Perception once more, before crawling on all fours back through his window- he didn’t trust his now shaky legs to stand while on the roof. The grips of panic were edging into his vision as blackness zeroing in, but he shut his eyes tight with a grimace, feeling his way back to his bed and laying down. That was the first order of business- getting to a place he didn’t have to fear his legs giving out from under him. He dug around in his pocket, violently snatching his phone out before dialing a specific number.

“Pick up, pick up, please pick up I need help calming down I can’t do this alone-” Callum gasped to himself.

_ “Callum? It’s nearly 3 am, is everything alright?”  _ Claudia’s voice sounded sleepy through the phone- Callum knew he’d woken her up, and he’d feel guilty about it later, but right now he just really  _ needed someone, anyone- _

“No, nonono, no everything is not alright, Claudia you need to promise me. Promise me you’ll never trust Aaravos. That man your father is friends with and keeps meeting with- for the love of god do not trust him!” Callum gasped out pleadingly.

_ “Callum?! Are you having a panic attack? Do you need me to come over? Actually, I’m not waiting for your answer, I’m coming over right now.” _

“No!” Callum nearly shouted. “My house… everyone else is still asleep, I don’t want to wake them up, i don’t want Ezrana and Aunt Amaya to see me like this, I’ll get in trouble for what I did that led to this… I can’t. Please.”

_ “Alright. I won’t come into your house. But I’m still coming over. I have a feeling I know where you were. You’re in your room right now, yes? And you somehow met someone just now despite that?” _

“Aaravos- Claudia he can’t be trusted, he threatened to  _ kill me  _ and he knew my name and I don’t know how he knew my name!”

_ “WHAT?!”  _ Claudia exclaimed over the phone. She grew frantic as Callum’s breathing got quicker and more ragged.  _ “Okay, okay, Callum listen to me, try to calm down just a little bit. I’m sneaking out of my house right now. I assume that you were on your roof when this happened. He left, right? He’s not still around?” _

“N-no. I heard his soul song leave my range of perception after he threatened me. Please, please don’t ask about the soul song thing, I just need to be calmed down and I can’t do it alone. I don’t want to think about what just happened.” Callum pleaded again.

_ “I promise. Come back outside your window. I’m here.” _

* * *

Rayla hadn’t gone back to sleep. She’d hid away from the view of her window the moment she saw Aaravos creeping around. What the  _ hell  _ was he doing here?! Oh god, did he know? Did he know she lived here specifically? Callum- Callum was  _ still on his roof and he was still using his Soul Projection.  _ Callum was in  _ danger. _

She knew she should have warned him, texted him, called out to him, something, but the moment her eyes had laid themselves on the familiar figure, she’d panicked beyond anything she’d ever felt before. She hid. Heard Callum’s musical presence fade into silence. Then there were voices. Voices she knew-  _ Why was Aaravos talking to Callum-  _ and increasing volume of one of those voices made her even more afraid. Callum was yelling now- yelling at Aaravos, oh, what foolish confidence. Then again, he was unaware of the danger that Aaravos posed to people like him and her. Then the worst thing happened.

_ “Know this, young Callum. I have no need to… take care of you as of now. But get in my way somehow, in any type of way, I will not hesitate to kill you. Kill you in the worst way I know. You felt threatened before? Feel threatened now. That’s my promise.” _

Rayla’s heart was in her throat at the sound of Aaravos’s threat to Callum. Aaravos knew. Aaravos knew he had extra powers, thankfully thought of them useless for now, but he knew and he’d  _ threatened to kill Callum out of nowhere. _

She had to tell her parents. Runaan and Ethari had to know, surely now they had to bring him into the Moonshadow group now that he was in actual danger. It didn’t matter the risk of Aaravos finding out now, he already knew. They couldn’t just leave him to possibly die. From the way Callum was so defiant to him from this conversation, Rayla was sure that Callum wasn’t going to stand for his crap.

Even if it killed him.

“Callum!” A harsh whisper sounded from outside. Her window was still open. “Callum, listen to me! You’re going to be okay! The panic will pass, I promi--oof! Callum holy shit!”

Rayla had peeked her head out the window just in time to watch Callum dive off the second story roof and into Claudia’s arms without a second thought about risks. Her mouth fell open at the action- what the hell?!

“Callum I’m going to help you get through this no matter what but please  _ never  _ do that again.” Rayla heard Claudia beg.

She heard the muffled sounds of ragged breaths that were worryingly too loud, and choked sobs as Claudia held him in her arms as if the world would end if she let him go. Rayla’s heart twisted in her chest. She wanted to be out there. She wanted to be with them, to hug Callum, to be there for her friends, but the thought of Aaravos still creeping around rooted her to her spot. Runaan and Ethari… they would kill her if she went outside now knowing he’d been in the area. But Callum…

“Don’t trust him, Claudia. You can’t trust a man with a soul song like his.” Callum choked out, pulling away from her slightly. “He’s dangerous. He said he had powers, he probably meant soul powers. And he’s in cahoots with your dad! I don’t know what they could be planning to do but I’m  _ scared.” _

Claudia let out a shaky breath. “Maybe my father doesn’t know. Maybe this Aaravos guy is planning something on his own, and just happens to be friends with him?”

“I know you want to believe and trust in your dad, Claudia, but- but Aaravos said he wanted to keep his meetings with Viren a secret. Secrets only need to be kept when there’s something at stake! This can’t be a coincidence!”

Claudia lowered her head in defeat. “I… I know. I just don’t want to believe it.” She paused. “Rayla. Her dads, maybe we should tell them about this guy? Unless they know already… Whatever group they’re part of obviously has something to do with the protection of people with extra soul abilities. I bet they can help you. Even though I’m still pretty pissed at Runaan or whatever his name was.”

“Clauds...” Callum began with a deeper breath, visibly calming down just a little bit. “You can’t tell your dad what I told you. Don’t even mention that I met Aaravos. If at any point he finds out that I opened my mouth he might actually make good on his promise. I don’t even know what constitutes getting in his way! I’m too scared to do anything!”

Claudia pulled him back to her tightly. “Any person who threatens something that severe is in my immediate shit list. Especially with you. I don’t know who Aaravos thinks he is, but he has no right to threaten the ones I call family. If my dad knows about his cruel ways and is still fine with it, then maybe I have to reconsider some things. But I’m going to be here for  _ you. _ ” She said determinedly. “Come on, let’s go back to my house. I know, it’s not exactly the number one place you want to be right now, but standing out here in the middle of the street at three in the morning isn’t doing us any favors. I’m literally in my nightgown.”

Callum let out a wet laugh at that. “Okay. Okay. It’s going to be okay… I’m going to be okay. We can talk about what we’re gonna do in the morning. Err… in a few hours.” He sighed. “Clauds, I think we should skip school tomorrow.”

Claudia grinned. “Oooo, Cally skipping school on purpose? Rebel.” She teased, trying to lighten the mood as the pair walked across the street to her house. “But yeah, I understand. I’d take an F for you any day.”

Rayla slid her window shut when she watched Claudia and Callum disappear into the former’s house. Her mind was spinning, thoughts racing, but one thing was clear. Callum needed to be protected. The moment she woke up later in the morning, as soon as Runaan and Ethari were awake, she was going to tell them what she witnessed. This was no time to play games anymore.

Aaravos was making moves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't expecting to get this chapter done so fast. I actually just straight up wrote the entire thing tonight. Start to finish in one sitting. Something about the plot in this chapter just sucked me in and I was suddenly over my 3000 word minimum really quickly dsfdghf
> 
> Anyways the plot is finally starting to happen, no more fucking around with "oh no Callum's super unstable let's baby him and also see life through his eyes" all the time. Also Rayla is already pining bro.
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr! Ask me stuff about my fics!  
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)


	10. Conflict Of Interest

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There was fear and dread unlike anything Callum had known before swirling around in his gut. It was there, circling like a pissed-off dragon, the fumes of its flaming ire rising up to cloud his thoughts. His head was in a haze as chills crawled over his skin over and over again. His fateful encounter with the man called Aaravos last night was still very fresh in his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAA IM NOT FUCKING DEAD YET GUYS ITS BEEN 2 WEEKS BUT QUARANTINE HASN'T TAKEN MY ASS OUT Y E T
> 
> I'm still so fucking mad at the song counterpart for this chapter. Not because it doesn't fit. Because the circumstances as to why it exists are fucking stupid. But I'm not gonna rant about it I already ranted to my poor discord chat you don't deserve that fate
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link <3)

There was fear and dread unlike anything Callum had known before swirling around in his gut. It was there, circling like a pissed-off dragon, the fumes of its flaming ire rising up to cloud his thoughts. His head was in a haze as chills crawled over his skin over and over again. His fateful encounter with the man called Aaravos last night was still very fresh in his mind. The fear that struck itself through his heart the moment his own name left Aaravos’s lips still left a throbbing hole in his chest. Callum brought a hand up to curl around the fabric of his shirt, where his heart was on the inside. There was something else hammering away in the back of his skull, tiny, nearly nonexistent, but he could feel it and the concept attached to it made him even more afraid.  _ Is that what power can do to a person? _

He didn’t want to think of it. That vile man had taken advantage of his unstable mindset. While he did indeed have a soul, that man had no heart.  _ Oh, great. Even an evil, disgusting man has a soul song and I don’t. Thanks for that, universe, you’re really making me feel like I’m a good person.  _ Though what did he really expect at this point?

“Callum? Oh, you’re already awake. Cool. When do you think we should uh… yknow?” Claudia said as she appeared from the top of the stairs. Despite the both of them having agreed to skip school a few hours earlier, she was already dressed for the day in one of her favorite all-black outfits.

“Patience, miss goth lesbian definition.” Callum shot back, opting to try and make the mood playful instead of letting it continue in the bleak direction it was heading. “Do you mind fetching me one of my outfits that you stashed away like a weirdo in your room? I don’t want to have to go over to my house and catch an ass-beating from Amaya for skipping school.”

“Yeah, it technically is past the start of the school day now. Though I don’t think you’ll get out of it fully considering you have to go home eventually.” Claudia replied casually, retreating back into the shadows of the hidden hallway on the second floor. “But for the record, I’m not a goth lesbian definition!”

“Stay in the closet, Clauds!” Callum yelled back with a grin.

As he waited for Claudia to return with a set of clothes for him to change into for the day, he fished his phone out from his pocket- how he managed to fall asleep with it there was beyond him- and checked the exact time. He was surprised to find a barrage of texts from Rayla.

_ Rayla [7:03am] _

_ Callum??? Are you awake? _

_ Rayla [7:04am] _

_ Do you think you and Claudia could come over today? My parents wanna talk to the two of you about the group stuff. _

_ Rayla [7:04am] _

_ Wait shit you guys have school _

_ Rayla [7:04am] _

_ I forgot. _

_ Rayla [7:05am] _

_ Ruthari keep me away from school because of certain situations. _

_ Rayla [7:05am] _

_ Ruthari is just the name I use when referring to both of my dads at the same time i considered that might confuse you _

_ Rayla [7:06am] _

_ I’m gonna assume you’re still asleep considering you were up at a god awful hour to be fair _

_ Rayla [7:07am] _

_ I mean so was I, I was up with you, but you get my point I think _

_ Rayla [7:07am] _

_ Probably _

_ Rayla [7:08am] _

_ Okay I’m gonna stop spamming you like this I hope your phone vibration doesn’t wake you up. Reply when you can _

Despite it all, the spam of texts made Callum chuckle to himself. His phone ringer had been set to silent, as he usually does when it’s past a certain point at night. Sometimes he forgets though, luckily today wasn’t one of those times. He definitely would’ve been woken up to the vibrations of his phone against his leg.

_ Callum [9:54am] _

_ You’re funny. Glad to wake up and find someone able to get a laugh out of me. _

_ Callum [9:55am] _

_ Clauds and I are skipping because we’re awful students. We can come over soon. _

Callum nearly smacked himself in the face with his first text. What the hell was he thinking?! That was way too much of an… intimate (?) thing to say to Rayla! Wasn’t it? Why was he getting so embarrassed and panicked over a simple text where he was speaking the truth? It just seemed a little too forward to him. Oh well, there was nothing he could do about it now. He’d already sent it, and unsending would make the second text seem like it came out of nowhere.

Why was he overthinking a damn text message?

“Oi, loverboy. Stop staring all red-faced at your phone and take the clothes I’ve been offering for the last thirty seconds.” Claudia’s sudden voice startled him out of his reverie.

“L-loverboy?! It’s just some texts from Rayla, what are you going on about?!” Callum defended quickly, curling up on himself a bit before snatching the clothes from Claudia’s outstretched hand.

“Rayla, who you met one magical night in the forest, got carried back to your house in her arms, and then proceeded to gush to me about how beautiful her and her soul song were to me. It’s okay to develop a crush on someone you just met Callum, no harm in admitting it!” Claudia teased, nudging him with her elbow.

“Can you leave me alone so I can change?” Callum groaned with embarrassment, attempting to hide his face in his hands. “I don’t have a crush on Rayla. You’re talking crazy.”

“Whatever you say, Cal. Go get dressed, I’ll be in the kitchen making my amazing pancakes.” Claudia boasted, trotting away out of sight once again.

“I swear you use some kind of dark magic to make them that good!” Callum called after her. “Also, Rayla said she wants us to come over to talk about the group stuff. Her words!”

Claudia didn’t give him a reply while he quickly stripped himself out of his sleepwear and tugged himself into the clothes given to him. He supposed that they had time for breakfast. After all, they had the whole day to meet up with Rayla and her dads considering they were being bad students.

A buzz from his phone cut into his thoughts. He’d literally just turned silent mode off and he was already getting notifications.

_ Rayla [10:06am] _

_ Gee, I’m flattered that I seem to have brightened your day a little. _

_ Rayla [10:06am] _

_ Honestly I think coming as soon as possible would be the best but I don’t want to rush you two _

Well, so much for his previous thought.

_ Callum [10:07am] _

_ It’s alright, I can tell Claudia to hurry her ass up with the pancakes. Gotta get back at her for already teasing me this morning anyway _

_ Rayla [10:08am] _

_ I don’t think Claudia can control the speed at which pancake batter cooks _

_ Rayla [10:09am] _

_ Either way enjoy your breakfast, don’t rush on my account _

“Hey Claudia! Hurry it up with the pancakes, Rayla said we should come as soon as possible!” Callum yelled again, too lazy to get up without the promise of immediate food.

“If you’re so impatient then get over here and cook it yourself, you little shit!”

______________________

Rayla sighed, clicking her phone locked again. She was glad to know that Callum seemed to be more or less alright. His panic attack that she witnessed last night had scared her more than she wanted to admit. She really did believe he was a good kid, despite the short time they knew each other. A troubled kid, but a good kid. Someone who’d randomly dropped right into her area of the forest in the middle of the night and called her beautiful.

She had to mentally slap herself a few times before the blush in her cheeks faded away, along with that last thought. She was  _ not  _ about to go there.

“You know, normally Runaan and I would be a little miffed at you for having been awake at the hour you were, but I think this is the wake-up call we needed.” Ethari stated suddenly. “We can’t live our lives always choosing the safest option. Then again, the safest option can be twisted around by fear. We really can’t just let Aaravos threaten another young life like this.”

Rayla shivered. “I heard him threaten Callum if he ‘got in his way’. I’m afraid that most definitely means being in cahoots with us, the Moonshadows.”

“Maybe so. But at least he’d be protected with us instead of on his own. Who knows, Aaravos could decide to just randomly kill him if he so wanted to. You said he clearly knows where the boy lives. I can’t just stand around and ignore the situation with that knowledge.”

A knock at the door made the occupants of the room jump, while Rayla rushed to the door to open it. She let Claudia and Callum in without any words.

“Welcome, you two.” Runaan said with a monotone voice.

“Uh… Mr. Runaan? Aren’t you a teacher?” Callum asked in confusion.

“Aren’t you two students?” He replied back without missing a beat.

Claudia snorted. “Oh, that was good. He got your ass Cal.”

“Anyways, snarky comments aside,” Ethari cut in. “It’s come to our attention that Aaravos actively threatened you last night. Because of this, we decided that it’s of the utmost importance that we take you in.” He continued, eyeing Callum directly.

“Huh? How on Earth did you find that out?” Callum asked, even more confused than before.

“Me… I was there.” Rayla piped up with a soft voice. “I know you probably thought I had gone back to sleep at that point, but the reality was that I was just hiding out of view of my window. I saw Aaravos in the street well before you did, and I know I really should have said something, but I couldn’t let him see me, and--”

“Whoa, whoa, calm down Rayla. I don’t blame you for what happened. It was my dumb idea to be out on the roof at two in the morning of all things. I’m a little confused on why he can’t be allowed to see you, but other than that, no need to apologize.” Callum said, cutting off her guilty rambling.

“Um… it’s great that you guys want to protect Callum and all, but what does this have to do with me? I don’t have any extra soul powers, I don’t see why I need to be here.” Claudia said with laced hands.

“Do you think that only people with extra soul powers are allowed to be brought into the Moonshadows?” Runaan asked, genuinely surprised. “That would be madness, and putting so much more at risk. Ethari and I don’t actually have any extra soul powers either. But we are heavily trained in combat. Even though you’re more or less normal like us, that doesn’t mean you can’t be a part of the cause.”

Claudia blinked. “Am I gonna have to learn to fight then?”

Ethari nodded. “But don’t worry, we’ll be here to help train you. Callum, you too. You’ll be trained to hone your powers. Despite what you may think now, they could be of actual use in combat in the future.”

Claudia nodded determinedly. “I’m okay with this. It’s better that I know how to fight instead of being a useless weak link, there’d be less of a chance someone dies that way.” She blinked at the shocked looks of Runaan and Ethari. “What? Did you think I was a braindead idiot? It’s so very obvious that people of your group have died in the past with a fight so drawn out like this!”

Suddenly, everyone’s gazes seemed to hit the floor all at once.

“What? Did I accidentally hit a nerve? I was just stating the obvious…”

“No, no… you are correct, Claudia. Some of our members have died. Friends. We haven’t had a death in a very long time though. The last one was…” Ethari trailed off with a sad shake of his head.

“My parents.” Rayla finished, her voice sounding even smaller than before.

* * *

_ The building was ablaze. An unexpected attack of arson no doubt caused by Aaravos and his little followers. Though if he thought a little bit of fire was going to stop them, he was very mistaken. _

_ “Forget about trying to put the fires out, Runaan! We should just take Rayla and Zym and run!” Lain shouted over the crackling of burning material. _

_ “He’s right, my love!” Ethari called. “The safer option is to just cut our losses and go! The building isn’t anywhere near as important as the lives of these children!” _

_ A deep, bellowing laughter interrupted the group’s shouting. _

_ “My my, what a noble sacrifice. But I’m afraid I can’t let you take my target away from me.” Aaravos sang with a chuckle, stepping into view out from behind a smoldering pillar. _

_ “Aaravos! You’d trap yourself in a burning building just to kill a child?!” Tiadrin hissed, seething with anger. _

_ His laughing stopped abruptly. “You think I care about what you fools do? My powers may only be able to do so much, but I can still take out every single one of you right now with a flick of my wrist.” He demonstrated with a grin glinting with malice. “Give me your girl, little Tiadrin, and you can have the privilege of not having to die in this inferno with the rest of your little friends.” _

_ “Like hell!” Tiadrin spat in reply, tightening her grip around the scared and confused young Rayla in her arms. _

_ Aaravos narrowed his eyes, bringing his hand up again as sickly green sparks started to crackle from it. “One last chance to end this the easy way.” _

_ Without any warning, Lain suddenly rushed at the threatening man, swords drawn. Aaravos fired shots of green sparks as he advanced, but he managed to dodge them and start swinging. _

_ “Ethari, Runaan, take Rayla.” Tiadrin said suddenly, pushing the child into Ethari’s arms with watering eyes. “Please, get her to safety. I have to help Lain. Don’t argue!” She cried, seeing their faces contort. “Just go!” _

_ They took their order without another word, running out of the room and to the nearest exit with Rayla securely in Ethari’s arms. Tiadrin drew her own swords and went to go aid her husband in fighting the threat. _

_ But, like every great night, the moon must fall behind the horizon and disappear. _

_ Runaan and Ethari met up with Zubeia outside of the building, Zym clutched tightly in her arms. She looked terrified. _

_ “No...no! We can’t leave them in there! Ethari… Runaan… we have to help them!” _

_ Runaan shook his head sadly. “We can’t, Zubeia. Aaravos is after Rayla, she’s his main priority. If we all go back in there… if we don’t make it, Rayla’s just his to take!” _

_ Zubeia let out a choked sob. The flames radiating from the building they had used as a base for so long grew ever hungrier, ever hotter, ever brighter. As the fire claimed different parts of the building, a wall gave way and crumbled to the ground. With horror, the retreating party saw the terrible sight within. Lain’s body, lifeless on the burning floor, while Tiadrin’s form stood motionless before Aaravos, blades lowered, eyes glazed over with the same sickly green that the man had at his fingertips. _

_ With a sickening smile, Aaravos spotted his unwilling audience. He walked over to where Tiadrin was standing, immobilized, as his arm began to glow a sickly dark purple this time. His arm reached and went straight through Tiadrin’s chest, pulling out a familiar glowing blue object. With a last smile, the purple color of his hand migrated into the round form of the soul, where it then disintegrated and was absorbed into his arm. Tiadrin’s now lifeless body crumpled to the ground, just like Lain’s. _

_ “We need to go. NOW!” Runaan barked, snapping everyone out of their horrified shock. _

_ Without another word, the group ran into the blanket of trees that reached out to them behind the burning, condemned building. As the sounds of the crumbling structure began to fade into the distance as the group continued to run, all that was left were the choked sobs of Zubeia and Ethari, while Runaan did his best to keep his composure. They would have to regroup with the other members later. _

_ He hoped Janai and the rest were unharmed. _

* * *

Claudia looked just about ready to puke as soon as the story ended. “Holy shit… he can do that?!”

Callum watched as Rayla shrank into herself even more, while Runaan and Ethari nodded grimly. “It’s the very reason we defied him in the first place. Aaravos… used to be a friend of ours, a very long time ago. But once we found out about what he could do and what he wanted to do with it, we couldn’t stand for it.”

A sudden loud shattering sound made its way into the room. Everyone jumped to see that Callum had stood up from his seat, his eyes dark, expression pulled into one of such anger that it almost intimidated them. His hand was in a fist, clenched so tight that Claudia thought for a moment he might make himself bleed. But what came dripping out from between his fingers was a sparkly, black mist, not blood.   
  


“I’m going to kill him.” Callum growled in a low voice. “Even back then he was content to kill a child for greed! How can anyone be that vile and cruel?!” He shouted, becoming even angrier than before, if that was even possible.

“Callum… Please calm down.” Claudia mumbled, slightly afraid of what was about to happen.

The four of them watched as the soul energy leaking from his fist began to float and encircle Callum’s body as he trembled slightly with pure anger.

“I don’t care about being calm. I’m going to  _ kill _ this bastard!” He roared, turning quickly on his heel and acting as if he was going to leave out the front door right then to track him down.

Before he could, someone reached out and caught his hand in their own, halting his movements.

“Callum…” It was Rayla. “I understand that you feel bad for me, that you feel bad for what happened to my parents. But this isn’t making me feel any better.” Her tone sounded so  _ tired.  _ “This isn’t what I would want.”

Immediately, Callum felt the anger leaving his body, as the swirling soul energy around him obediently returned to the palm of his now opened hand, where it solidified back into an orb, ready to be used again. Ready to serve. He blinked, mouth slightly agape in shock at the change. Last time the orb given to him had shattered and dissipated, but now…

“I’m sorry Rayla.” Callum mumbled defeatedly, shoulders sagging and he turned back around once more and sat down again. “Losing parents is just a really… touchy thing for me. More so on how… awful the death of your parents’ was.”

Despite the somber and downcast atmosphere of the room, Rayla managed to give him a weak smile. “I understand. Thank you for… I guess feeling so strongly that you’d want to avenge them for me.”

Callum nodded dully. He turned his attention back to the two adults in the room. “Sorry about that, sirs. I guess I really do need that training.”

“Well, hey, look on the bright side!” Claudia butt in suddenly. “You’re already making progress! You managed to keep the orb with you instead of it disintegrating like last time! That’s gotta be worth something!”

“Is this true, young Callum?” Ethari asked with a hint of surprise.

“Oh… uh, yeah. Rayla’s little soul orbs can apparently help my powers activate. I don’t know if it just boosts the strength or is the only reason I can do some of my powers in the first place, but…” He steeled himself.

“Mr. Runaan, Mr. Ethari. I promise you no matter what happens in the future. Rayla is more than just a battery to me, I’d never try to use her as such like Aaravos wants to. And if he ever gets close, like I said. I’ll kill him  _ myself. _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was that too dark? Do I need to change the rating on this story to M for that flashback scene? I have no fucking idea. Please tell me you read that part with the song counterpart playing as well. If you didn't read it the fuck again you NEED THAT SONG PLAYING WHILE READING THAT PART.
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr! Ask me stuff about my fics!  
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)


	11. Nautilus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum rolled his eyes at the banter between his two girl friends. Rayla’s parents had told the three of them that they could use the basement to hang out or mildly train in for the time being, until the school day was over. Runaan had to go back to work, albeit late, it was better than never at all. Ethari had said despite agreeing to train him and Claudia, he didn’t have the proper equipment for new recruits- something about it being “a very long time since we’d had fresh faces”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im still living. I promise. I'm going to see this damn thing to the end. Despite the fact that I'm planning this shit to have a minimum of 50 chapters. I'm like 1/5th of the way there already, that counts for something
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link <3)

“I gotta say, having your basement serve as an equivalent to a training arena is probably the most unsurprising thing I’ve heard coming from you and your family, Rayla.” Claudia broke the silence first as the trio descended the steps towards the mentioned room.

“You’ve barely heard anything about my family and I, Claudia. That statement of yours holds no merit until you get a hold of more data.”

“Nerd.”

Callum rolled his eyes at the banter between his two girl friends. Rayla’s parents had told the three of them that they could use the basement to hang out or mildly train in for the time being, until the school day was over. Runaan had to go back to work, albeit late, it was better than never at all. Ethari had said despite agreeing to train him and Claudia, he didn’t have the proper equipment for new recruits- something about it being “a very long time since we’d had fresh faces”.

He found that despite the heart-wrenching story he’d been told mere minutes earlier, the rough sea of emotion had settled for the time being. Though he was still going to kill Aaravos with his bare hands- just calmly. His complete one-eighty from being scared of the man to planning a literal murder might have startled anyone else, but Callum found it to be an improvement. He’d rather want to kill than be scared of some random stranger he’d never met before. Yeah, that’s what he was going to use to justify this scenario.

“Oh my god they left Zym in the basement by himself.” Rayla said with utter disbelief, startling Callum from his thoughts.

He was about to ask who or what Zym was, before his eyes caught sight of a small boy in one the basement corners, playing with what looked to be a butterfly toy. He looked to be about Ezran’s age, maybe a little younger, with a goofy grin on his face as he played with bright eyes.

“Uh… is this the same Zym kid from the story your dads told us earlier?” Claudia asked, a bit confused.

Rayla nodded. “Runaan works at the elementary school as a teacher. He’s  _ supposed  _ to bring Zym with him to school on the request of his mother Zubeia, who works a lot of odd hours. Can’t wait for Runaan to get home and realize he left the poor kid…”

“Doesn’t look like he’s that bothered to be honest.” Callum replied lightly, motioning to his continued happy playing.

“Aye, I’m just looking forward to seeing Runaan get his ass kicked by Zubeia when she comes to pick him up.”

“Shh! Language, Rayla! That’s a whole child!” Claudia gasped with overly dramatic astonishment.

Zym finally seemed to take notice of the sudden company, and he eyed Callum and Claudia with hesitant curiosity. Zubeia taught him well to be cautious of people he didn’t know.

“Hey Zym!” Rayla called him cheerfully. “This is Callum and Claudia, they’re my friends!” The surge of giddy happiness that shot through the white-haired girl’s chest when she said that statement with such certainty was a next-level experience. Little did she know that a certain brown-haired boy behind her felt a similar giddy feeling at her words.

“Hey there buddy!” Callum called softly, feeling an odd sense of familiarity coming from the younger boy. “You go to the local elementary school right? Do you… perhaps know of another boy there named Ezran?”

At the mention of his brother’s name, Zym visibly perked up and a light began to shine in his eyes. Ever silent, the younger boy nodded vigorously.

“I happen to be Ezran’s older brother! Well, step-brother technically, but who cares about that?” Callum revealed.

The moment this revelation was divulged to Zym, the boy got to his feet and rushed over to give Callum a big hug, though he was still quiet. Callum gave him a hesitant pat on his back, opening his mouth to ask about the silence of the younger boy.

“Aye, Zym is a quiet lad. He usually only talks to his mother, you’ll just have to get used to it.” Rayla pipped up before he could ask.

“Right then… is there anything specific we should be training with? Or on? Or… Callum, what are you even training to do exactly?” Claudia bombarded them with questions.

Callum frowned. “Huh. I didn’t actually think about that. I know you two are gonna be training in actual combat, but I have to figure this out on my own…” His thoughts trailed back to one of the nights he spent in the Midnight Forest, where he’d nearly hurt Claudia with the sheer volume of his mother’s soul song he’d been projecting. Perhaps that was a good place to start- learning how to control the volume of that particular power. Weaponizing sound was nothing new, but if he wanted to do that at any point, he’d have to hone the skill. He couldn’t rely on his emotional state to lower or raise the volume of whatever song he chose to project.

“Callum? You in there dude?” Claudia was waving a hand in front of his face. “You zoned out for a whole minute. Completely dead to the world. You alright?”

Callum shook himself out of it. “Yeah, I was just thinking. I know where to start with my… uh… soul training. If you could call it that. You two should get to it, I think you’ll be fine. Zym seems to be surgically attached to me now.” The young boy was still clinging to Callum’s legs.

The two girls snickered together at his predicament, but nodded. “Come Claudia, help me drag the training dummies out. You’re gonna learn the basics. Simple stuff, hand to hand. I’m not trusting you with a sharp object for a long time.”

Callum watched them bantered with an amused breath, while he moved himself and Zym to the opposite side of the room, making sure to stay out of their way. Even though they were only doing hand to hand combat training, Callum didn’t want to be in the blast radius of a stray punch or kick. Especially with a smaller kid hanging onto him like a piece of treasured candy.

“So… Do you have any special power Zym?” Callum asked quietly, confining his little area to the two of them.

Zym gave him a proud nod, though his expression seemed conflicted. Callum blinked, trying to think about how he should interpret the boy’s silent response.

“So… you do have a special power. But… hmm. You seem a little… frustrated? About the concept. So… does that mean you’re having trouble controlling it? Or calling it?”

Zym perked and nodded again, seemingly impressed with Callum’s accurate guessing. The small boy took his butterfly toy in his hands and showed it meaningfully to Callum again. His small hands wrapped around the body of the butterfly, obscuring it from view, leaving only…

“Wings.” Callum breathed, in awe of the concept presented to him. “So you can fly with the power of your soul? Or can you actually grow wings that function as an extra part of your body?”

Zym gave him an exasperated look, dismayed by the multiple questions. Callum grinned back sheepishly.

“Right, multiple questions make it hard. It’s alright, I can just imagine. I should focus on trying to train one of my own powers. It’s something called Soul Projection, where I can basically act as a human music player. If there’s any song I remember in my dusty old brain, I can use it. It’s a nice thing, a cool concept, but now’s the time I should think about weaponizing it. Well… more like use it for my own personal defense. If I can learn to control the volume, then I can cripple an attacker with loud volume.”

Zym kept his eyes focused on the older boy with interest. Callum closed his eyes, pulling one of Rayla’s soul orbs from his pocket (he never left his house without it now). With a steady breath, he focused on the tiny, compact ball of soul energy in his palm. Like it had before, it evaporated from its solid form into the black, glittering smoke that it became when active. Like a loyal companion, it began to circle around his body awaiting its use. But Callum soon found that no matter what, he was consistently blanking out on a song to use. Of all the things that could be a roadblock, it was his inability to choose a specific song to use? This was getting ridiculous. He frowned deeply, opening his eyes again with a sigh. What a load of crap.

“Alright Claudia. We’re going to do basic stuff here, so basic punches and kicks where they’re needed. Blocking, defending, attacking, all that good stuff. But I wanna see your stance, and your punching strength first. Then I’ll know what to relay to Ethari when he gets the proper stuff. Though I really don’t know why he couldn’t just teach you now. I think he’s just being lazy.” Rayla’s voice ripped him from his frustrated thoughts.

He blinked, finding his attention fixated on Rayla’s strong voice, and the movement of Claudia’s body as she did as she was told to do. Callum’s expression softened. His two friends, one old, one new, both terribly near and dear to his heart. One nearly his sister from another mister, and the other… someone wonderful. The emotions that stir in his stomach are confusing when he thinks about Rayla, and how much she already means to him. Claudia’s teasing words of him having a crush on the white-haired girl replayed in his head, and he felt heat begin to pool in his cheeks. He frantically covered his face with his hands, leaving his eyes exposed to continue watching the training in front of him.

“Oh. No, okay, stop.” Rayla interjected. “Here. I think it’s just better if I demonstrate this. Watch and learn.”

Claudia stepped back with dramatic flair, bowing and allowing Rayla the stage. “Front and center, milady.”

“Charming.” Rayla replied with a smirk.

Callum and Zym watched from their corner as Rayla stretched her neck, and cracked her knuckles. She settled into a steady and strong stance, and threw the first punch at the training dummy. The force of her punch knocked the dummy back against the wall, nearly toppling it over already. Callum and Claudia’s jaws both dropped- holy crap, Rayla was strong as hell!

Rayla continued in her demonstration while her captivated audience continued to gawk at her, completely unaware of their reactions. She also made sure to tone down on her strength, just so she didn’t send the training dummy through the wall and leave a hole. When she was done, however, she found her friends staring at her funny. Under their awed stares, her gaze dropped to the floor as a faint pink tinted her cheeks.

“W-what? Why’re you all staring at me like that?”

“ _ Girl. _ ” Claudia said in a deadpanned tone. “You nearly sent that thing through the wall with a single punch. You are strong as hell and that’s absolutely amazing. I’m all for powerful women but I honestly didn’t expect you to be this strong! No offense, of course. It’s just that your arms look kinda skinny and… this probably isn’t helping. But we’re just surprised! You could probably kick my ass!”

“Only probably?” Rayla shot back with another smirk, rolling her shoulders as her confidence returned to her. “I could probably kick anyone’s ass, so long as I don’t lose focus and hesitate. That’s really the only reason I haven’t sent Aaravos flying across the planet with a one-hit death punch by now. Well, that, and the fact that it’s too risky for me to be near him at any point.”

Callum noticed some of the fire in Rayla’s stance diminish at the confession. “You’re… you’re scared of Aaravos.” He said it as more of a statement, rather than a question.

Rayla grimaced, gaze returning once again to the floor. “Unfortunately. I hate that aspect of myself. I want to be able to face him, to really tell and show him how I feel about what he did to my parents, but… I can’t. I couldn’t even break through my panic last night when I noticed him prowling around your house. I could’ve saved you from the fate you suffered so recently, and that just makes me even more angry.” She paused with a huff. “I shouldn’t be scared of things. I shouldn’t have to show fear. But every time I get relatively close to that damn man, my body just freezes up, and I suddenly can’t think about anything other than the horrid image of him taking my soul. I never actually saw Aaravos do the same to my parents, Zubeia had made sure to keep me facing away back then. I can only imagine what it really looked like… or what it really felt like.”

Something in Callum twisted. She sounded so despondent about it, and she’d been so playful and confident a second ago. He didn’t like the idea of Rayla being upset. Granted, he hated whenever any of his small group of friends were in a bad mood (sans himself, of course. He could choke, as the meme went). He hadn’t even noticed that the smoky energy of the soul orb he carried was still active and swirling lazily around his upper body, as he sat cross-legged on the floor with Zym next to him. The two boys turned their heads to look at each other, both seemingly having the same idea. Perhaps he couldn’t focus on his goal for Soul Projection now, but the soul orb was still active, and its energy was his to distribute.

“Hey buddy, how about we give Rayla a little show of our own, just to cheer her up?” Callum whispered with a slight smile.

Zym’s eyes lit up once more, his small body shaking with excitement. He nodded vigorously again, and Callum pulled himself and the small boy to their feet. Fishing through his memories of songs, Callum remembered one that always put him in a grooving mood. Something that made it nearly impossible to stay in a funk once the beat got you trapped. Then again, maybe that was just him. But he had to try.

With a quick flick of his wrist, Callum sent a fraction of the smoky soul energy over to Zym, where it accepted its new gravitational body, and began to orbit the smaller boy just as it did Callum. With a slight flash of light, two brightly glowing wings protruded from Zym’s back, capturing the attention of the two others in the room. Though Callum paid them nearly no attention as he focused his own energy to resonate with the energy around him, and a song began to play. A song that started slow, Callum prompting Zym to take to the air to the best of his ability- there was still a ceiling to worry about, after all. Callum didn’t care if he seemed like he was acting silly, but he guided Zym’s flight movements with theatrics.

“Callum? Zym? What the hell are you two doing?” Rayla questioned, but received no response. Not yet.

Callum grinned to himself as the music he was radiating began to pick up in tempo and beat as he remembered just what it felt like to be swept away by this particular melody. As the beat dropped, so did Zym, and the two of them began to goofily dance to the beat, not caring about the reactions of Claudia or Rayla. They were there to set a lighter mood, and they’d do it without complication.

Callum heard laughs erupting from his audience when he really got into it, swinging his head from side to side on each beat of the chorus. Zym circled him, bouncing along with the innocence of a child his age. The smoky soul energy around him was orbiting at rapid speed, yet still in tempo with the song playing. As the hype of the first beat drop calmed and the song slowed into a softer middle part, Callum shimmied his way in between the two girls.

“The mood was getting a little too unhappy for us, right Zym?” He asked with a wild grin, receiving a nod from Zym as his soul wings flapped once. “Dancing is fun, isn’t it? How could anyone be upset while they’re dancing?”

Claudia caught on quickly to his insinuation, giving him a look that spoke  _ clever boy.  _ She moved to go dance along with Zym, who’d been traitorously left on his own by Callum. He turned his attention solely to Rayla, the emotion in his eyes softening just a bit as he willed her to think about his words.

She smiled at him with a shake of her head. “You’re actually a dork. A complete dork.”

He grinned back. “Perhaps!” He paused, counting the beats of the song in his head. The next drop was coming up soon. “Come dance with me, pouty princess!”

Rayla yelped in surprise as Callum yanked her closer to him by the hand, firmly grasping both of her hands now as the beat dropped a second time. He took to moving the both of them along to the beat, his groove never wavering. Soon enough, Rayla found herself grinning along with him, as well as laughing as he continued to guide them with lackluster grace. A moment longer, and Rayla was moving with just as much vigor.

Callum made sure to have the song replay a couple of times over just to prolong the moment. He was having fun, Zym was having fun, Claudia was having fun, and he assumed that Rayla was also having fun. That’s all he could really hope for, anyways. He even felt bold enough to jokingly spin Rayla as if it was a proper ballroom dance they were partaking in, and not a ridiculous jig-fest. Soon enough, he eased the song to a close, and called the energy of the soul orb back to him. Zym’s wings faded as the assisting energy left him.

“I don’t know what the hell any of that was about, but…” Rayla began, panting slightly from the dancing exhaustion. “That was really fun. As much as you are a goofy dork, I like this happy and confident Callum!”

It was with this statement, however, that Callum felt all of his confidence die in his chest. He found his gaze falling to the floor immediately, a hand rubbing the back of his neck as he flushed once more. “Uh.. well… You seemed to be getting a little upset…”

Claudia pranced over smugly, propping her elbow on Callum’s shoulder. “Cally has a habit of going out of his way to keep the people he cares about happy, if he can do anything about it. Someone should really give themselves a taste of their own medicine sometimes, you know!”

Callum rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re getting at. It’s not a big deal, really…”

Rayla let out a soft chuckle. “Well,  _ Cally,  _ thank you for jumping to cheer me up so quickly. Though I must admit, ‘pouty princess’ is certainly one I’d never heard before. There’s always something new with you, isn’t there?”

Callum flushed even more. He had called her that, hadn’t he? Oh lord, Claudia was going to never let him hear the end of that one. But as he thought about it, he found himself not regretting a single bit of it.

Rayla was happy, and so was he. That was definitely a first. How long had it been since he’d felt truly happy like this? And why did he so constantly deprive himself of it? He shook his head. Self-hate be damned.

He found something worth truly fighting it for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some lowkey filler fluff I guess. I have a plot map from here up until chapter 18 so far. I'll continue the map, of course, but I can only do so much before it starts to feel too far off to worry about. Anyways. Callum is fucking FALLING lol idiot
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr! Ask me stuff about my fics!  
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)
> 
> (Side note I post stuff about SOS on my Tumblr that I don't talk about on here, so if you want some extra info/lore you should look there :D)


	12. Red Lotus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “All of these people with these powers. Aaravos has the perfect fear and control tactic combo of powers, Rayla’s power makes her a literal battery, and… me. Just generally invading people’s personal privacy and being able to weaponize sound whenever I want now. I can’t help but feel a little guilty for using Rayla’s energy boosting soul orb. Aren’t I just using her as a battery as well, even if it’s on a lesser scale?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM NOT DEAD I PROMISE I AM STILL STICKING TO THIS I REALLY DO WANNA FINISH THIS
> 
> ughhguhguhgugh there's just a lot going on in the world thats so shitty rn and I'm mega procrastinating on my Summer A class right now im gonna die. fuck cops
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)

“Do you think that any of this is a good idea?”

It was a sudden question, one that Claudia most definitely wasn’t expecting from him. Callum watched carefully from the corner of his eye as Claudia’s overall relaxed expression morphed into one of concerned confusion.

“What do you mean?”

They were walking together on the sidewalk, side by side, backpacks strapped snuggly onto their backs as they traveled to school for the day. It was their normal routine for when they actually both felt well enough to go to school- something more uncommon than someone might think. It was surprising that neither of them had been expelled for their poor attendance at this point.

“All of these people with these powers. Aaravos has the perfect fear and control tactic combo of powers, Rayla’s power makes her a literal battery, and… me. Just generally invading people’s personal privacy and being able to weaponize sound whenever I want now. I can’t help but feel a little guilty for using Rayla’s energy boosting soul orb. Aren’t I just using her as a battery as well, even if it’s on a lesser scale?”

“Callum…” Claudia sighed, fixing him with a worried look. “I honestly don’t think anything in this world is one-hundred percent safe. But at the same time, with abilities like these, it really depends on the person who holds it. Aaravos is a clearly vile man who sees opportunity within a mindset sans morals. He doesn’t care about the lives he can and has already destroyed through his quest for power. He’s powerful and it’s foolish to think otherwise, but we shouldn’t outright fear him. We have to be cautious, yes, lest our souls become the equivalent of melted ice cream, but his powers don’t make him invincible.”

Callum’s frown only deepened. “That’s the issue. A person with powers like he does, we can’t in our right minds allow him to exist. But I don’t… I don’t think I could have the actual strength to kill someone. I just… I don’t know.”

“But you were so ready to murder him with your bare hands yesterday? I mean yeah, you were pretty riled up and angry about it after you learned just what he’s done, but still. And I feel like out of everyone currently in the Moonshadow pool you would be most successful to stop him. Your weaponization of sound can fit into any range class, while sword and hand-to-hand combat is more close range and poses a greater danger. The farther you are away from Aaravos, the more time you have to dodge out of the way of his corrosion blasts.”

“It’s just… don’t you think that’s a lot of pressure to put on a teenager?”

Claudia stopped, placing a gentle hand onto Callum’s shoulder with a sympathetic look. “Of course it is. None of this is fair to you. Being part of something greater always seems like an amazing thing to wish for when you’re living an ordinary life, but now that we’re here at this point, it’s clearly not all we thought it would be. It is a terrible responsibility to place on the shoulders of one teenager, and if I could shoulder some of that burden I would in a heartbeat. But at the same time, there are positives that have come from this. You’ve met a wonderful new friend, and other people who want to help you deal with your extra abilities. It may not seem like a big change, but you’ve got more people in your support network now. I can only hope that it relieves some of the stress you already have.”

“I… suppose that’s true. Though I can’t fully say that I consider Runaan part of my support network just yet. He was still kind of a dick to me the first time we met.”

“He was!” Claudia agreed. “I’m glad that you finally realize that now instead of pitting the blame for that stupid argument on yourself!”

Callum rolled his eyes with a faint smile. “Yeah, yeah. I was having a particularly bad day then if you hadn’t noticed.”

Despite this, Claudia’s expression settled into a soft smile. “You know, you used to have so many bad days all the time. And maybe you still might in the future, but I already see a positive change after Rayla came into the picture. She’s given you something that none of us have been able to give you and while anyone else might feel stung by that realization, I’m just so happy that there’s someone that has given you something to look forward to.”

Callum started them off walking again, not wanting to show up late. “Yeah… something about her has lifted something in me and I don’t know what. The cesspit of negativity and issues are definitely still there, swirling around in my head, but there’s definitely something different.”

“Hmm. Maybe you should take some time to talk with Mr. Gren about it? I know he’s only the ‘school counselor’ and it’s not quite the same since, you know, school bias warps the help that he could give, but he still is a good person to talk to.”

“Yeah, I probably will. I just wish that the school could get an actual counselor but their priorities are all over the damn place.”

* * *

“So, Callum.” Gren started as he closed the door behind him. “What would you like to talk about? Anything troubling you? Some good news to share?”

Callum sighed, sitting himself down on the provided couch. It was his lunch break, and eating during this period didn’t really matter, as all of his teachers knew about his struggles and allowed him to eat in class whenever he wanted. He could eat later.

“Well, a lot has happened in the past few days, and I don’t even know where to begin. I’m not even sure what exactly I can tell you. But it’s a lot. Good and bad. But a lot of bad.”

Gren nodded slowly. “I see. I won’t press you to tell me everything, that’s up to you. But, of course, since it’s you…” He dropped his voice to a whisper. “Do you want me to set up some Soul Fog?”

Callum was used to keeping many secrets. A lot of those secrets had to do with himself and how he was coping mentally, but the secret of Gren’s extra power was one he was almost proud to know and protect. He wasn’t sure about the apparently important need for keeping these things secret, but Gren had asked it of him, and he didn’t want to be rude. Gren had helped him greatly in some aspects.

“Um…” Callum trailed off, thinking. Was it necessary this time? “I think I’ll be okay without it today. There’s just something I wanna bounce off of you since we both share a certain extra quirk.”

“A discussion about extra soul powers, eh? Shoot.”

Callum took a breath. “Well… I wanted to ask you… if you thought the concept of having extra abilities was inherently good.”

Gren frowned, seemingly taken aback by the question. “Well… I don’t exactly know many people with extra abilities to begin with. I know of you, and myself. And I know that it’s mostly likely that no two people have the same ability. But at the same time, I don’t know the extent of what’s possible. From what I’ve seen and what I know, I’d say the pool of powers is more or less good or neutral.”

“You’re wrong.”

“What?” Gren asked, again taken aback.

Callum bit his lip, hard. He hadn’t meant to say that. How was he supposed to safely explain to Gren that he’d met a man in the middle of the night that threatened to kill him, while learning that in his past he’d killed multiple other people by quite literally melting their souls and them basically eating them?

“Uh…” Callum fumbled, trying to come up with a good response that didn’t give away anything. “It’s just… I dunno. My powers could be used negatively…”

“Powers? Multiple? Callum, is there something you want to tell me?”

_ Shit.  _ “I was hoping I could get around it to be honest.”

“Callum, if there’s something that could endanger any of the other students here, I need to know about it.” Gren said seriously.

“Okay, okay. Fine. I’ve been… finding that I can do more things. Not just hear other people’s soul songs past their blocks. Mainly, I can outwardly broadcast songs into the surrounding area. I can control volume, range, all of it. Well, I’m teaching myself how to control it better, but it’s nothing like my normal extra power. I most definitely didn’t have it two weeks ago either. And… it scares me.” Callum admitted quietly. “I’m scared of what I can do. One of the first times I accidentally used it, the song I was projecting was so loud it was hurting my friend. I think I could’ve made her go deaf if I had continued.”

Gren frowned. “I’ve never heard of gaining new powers, or having more than one for that matter.”

“It’s… a new thing, yeah.” Callum admitted. “But it still scares me, because… well, I’ve been thinking. I made a new friend recently, and she told me about a man who… killed her parents. And it got me thinking about the bad in this world, and what a bad person could do with extra powers like yours or mine. Or something else, incredibly dark. It wouldn’t be inherently good anymore, would it?”

“I...suppose not.” Gren relented carefully, taking everything Callum said into account. “But what ‘incredibly dark’ powers were you thinking of in this situation?”

Callum considered his options briefly. “Well… let’s just say, hypothetically, that someone had powers to, I don’t know, assimilate other souls? Or, maybe, have a power that could kill or severely cripple someone’s soul? And… and you ended up as one of the only people who have a chance at stopping that person from doing more damage… but you yourself are scared of the bad possibilities your powers could fall under…”

Gren eyed him. “Something tells me that this isn’t as hypothetical as you claim it to be, Callum. What on earth have you roped yourself into?”

Callum sighed. “I can’t tell you. I shouldn’t even have mentioned anything, but I’m just so worried about it. And stressed, thinking about just how heavy my responsibility can become in a situation like this.”

“A man with powers like you described shouldn’t be kept a secret, young one.” Gren advised, tone serious again. “If someone like this is walking around in complete secrecy, you can’t possibly allow that to continue! You should tell someone, something. The police force, something that can handle a threat like that.”

“Cops couldn’t do shit to him.” Callum spat bitterly. “I don’t trust cops anyways. Even though I did threaten him with the cops… whatever. That’s not the point. He isn’t exactly going around in secrecy either. We know what he can do, and he knows we’re here to stop him.”

“I still can’t help but be concerned, Callum. It sounds like you’ve put yourself into high danger, and everyone’s in danger if you’re being truthful with what this mystery man can do.”

Callum blinked, suddenly realizing something. “Mr. Gren… you have an extra soul power like me. My group doubles in protecting people with extra abilities, as well as chasing down this man and stopping him. I can’t, in good mind, tell you everything they’ve recently told me. But if you were to join the group yourself… your Soul Fog might be a good help.”

Gren shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I don’t know about that, Callum. This is a lot to take in, and I’m not sure I want to take baseless risks.”

The bell rang, snapping the both of them out of their deep conversation. Callum shook his head slightly, standing up and shrugging his backpack back onto his shoulder before staring dead into Gren’s eyes. “ You have time to think. Think about it long and hard, Mr. Gren. When you make a decision, make sure it’s truly what you want. If it’s yes, seek out Mr. Runaan in the elementary section of the school area and ask him about protection. If not, then that’s where this ends.”

And then Callum turned and walked out the door, hurrying to his next class in the school day.

* * *

Despite talking to Gren earlier in the day, Callum found himself still bogged down by the thoughts of powers used in negative ways. It wasn’t so much Aaravos that was the worry anymore- he knew that Aaravos would always use it for bad things now, no matter what. Powers like his had almost no positive capability anyways. It was just vile.

No, what worried him was the possibility of his own powers being used to harm and scare people- by himself. Callum could swear to anyone that he’d never do such a thing, and that’s how he truly felt about the subject, but at the same time, he couldn’t help but think about the what ifs. What if he snapped from all of his mental struggles and broke that promise? What if he hurt Aunt Amaya, hurt Ezran, Claudia? What if he hurt Rayla?

Callum sighed in frustration, scrambling out of bed in misplaced anger. He needed to take a walk. He checked the clock, where the time read out to him  _ 9:30pm. _ Not too late. Aunt Amaya would be fine with him leaving the house at this point. So that’s what he decided to do.

The area of Katolis still had some night life, despite it being a bit small of a place. Strolling leisurely into the town center of Katolis, he could see that some stores and other buildings still had their lights on. Night shifts were such a scam when the overall activity at night was still rather poor. Either way, the quiet atmosphere and cool feeling of the calm night helped to calm him down, even if it was just a bit. He considered texting Rayla to see if she could come with him, but he didn’t want to bother her all the time when he felt a little strange or misplaced. They were new friends, after all. He really didn’t want to test the limits of her resolve to stick around and help him. Plus, just dumping all your problems on someone else like that wasn’t exactly the nicest thing to do in his opinion.

Callum found himself walking slowly down the sidewalk, his hands in his pockets. Rayla’s soul orb was in one of those pockets, of course. He didn’t think he’d ever leave the house without it now. It made him feel just a little bit safer, as well as a little less alone. It was probably silly, thinking like that, but in a way, he saw the orb of pure energy as still being a part of Rayla herself, meaning a part of her was always with him. Was that weird? Probably. It wasn’t like he’d had a lot of friends in general, so boundaries weren’t exactly set in stone for him.

“Oh, hello young Callum. A pleasure to meet you here.” A chilling, familiar voice spoke, cutting into the calm atmosphere surrounding Callum.

Callum, hating himself for it, jumped at the sound of Aaravos’s voice calling out to him. He whirled around with inhuman speed to find Aaravos standing a bit behind him, peeking out halfway from the alley space in between two of the buildings.

_ What a creepy fucker!  _ “Don’t talk to me, you vile man.” Callum spat, the hand in his pocket clenching tighter around Rayla’s soul orb.

Aaravos shook his head, making a  _ tsk tsk  _ sound. “I was only trying to extend a friendly greeting. I’m not all bad, you know.”

Callum wanted to laugh. “You’re not all bad? That’s the funniest statement I’ve heard all year.” He snapped. “Don’t play innocent, Aaravos. I know what you are and what you’ve done in your past. You’re a cold-hearted murderer and I want no formalities between us.”

Aaravos’s expression darkened. “You’ve come into contact with the Moonshadow group, have you? Do you not remember my little promise that I made the last time we spoke?”

At the mention of Aaravos’s past threat, the soul orb in his pocket shattered without warning, and its energy poured from his pocket and swirled rapidly around Callum’s body, almost as if it sensed coming danger. Aaravos eyed Callum with an unreadable expression, as Callum sifted quickly through his list of memorized songs before choosing one to weaponize if needed.

“How peculiar… you have more to you then you previously let on, young one.” Aaravos said, almost commending him.

Callum snarled. “Get to the point, you bastard. You can either leave me alone now, and that can be the end of it, because I personally haven’t mentally prepared myself for a murder, but if you insist on bothering me still, I will kill you right now.”

Aaravos let out a deep laugh. “Oh, such voracity. I’m impressed, you seem to have gotten over your intimidation very quickly. You can certainly try to kill me now, but I highly doubt that the odds will roll in your success.”

Callum had heard enough. With a quick mental check, he focused on the first proper use of song weaponization. The dark-colored energy around him glowed even more as music because to pulsate out into the surrounding area from Callum’s body. Without taking his eyes off of Aaravos, he willed his power to increase in volume immensely, as well as increase in power. Raising his arm up, he flung his arm in the direction of Aaravos, as a focused blast of sound waves shot like a bullet towards the target.

Callum managed to take a second of smug pride as he watched Aaravos’s face twist into genuine surprise as he scrambled out of the way. Callum kept the volume loud, the drums and cymbals from his chosen song crashing with ear-splitting pulses. Callum found himself getting just a bit cocky, with how well he seemed to be controlling the situation.

“What’s wrong, old man? Is it too loud for your to fight back? Can you not focus for long enough through my cacophony to try and hit me with one of your soul corrosion shots?” Callum screeched in a taunt.

Aaravos fixed him with an angry glare, something that would have stopped Callum dead in his tracks if he didn’t feel so high on power right about then.

“Brat! I didn’t originally want to kill you because you were interesting, but if this is how you’re going to treat me, then I’ll gladly take up your challenge!”

Time seemed to slow to a haunting crawl. Callum felt genuine fear again after those words left Aaravos’s mouth. His body felt frozen as he watched Aaravos raise his own arm, sickly green energy pouring into his fingertips, and then the shot firing. Callum could see it traveling right towards him in slow motion, towards the center of his chest, closer, closer,  _ move, you idiot! MOVE! _

Time sped back up to normal just as Callum launched himself desperately to the side, as the corrosion shot came to meet its target. The air howled with Callum projected song still, but nothing else moved, nothing else made noise. Callum pushed himself up to his knees, panting heavily, Rayla’s soul energy still coiling around him like an angry snake. He looked up to Aaravos, and found the same look of shock and confusion on his face that Callum knew was on his own.

“You… you missed?” Callum breathed out incredulously, bringing the volume of his projection down just so he could talk without having to yell.

A look of disconnect flashed on Aaravos’s face for a moment, before it disappeared. “I… I missed.”

As his brain caught up to the situation, Callum shifted back into fight mode and raised the volume even higher than before and tried to condense it specifically in Aaravos’s specific area. He smirked again in triumph as Aaravos’s face contorted with pain and his hands flew up to cover his ears.

“Too bad for you then, I guess I just have to do the deed now. Can I kill you with overbearing volume? Is that a thing that’s possible?” Callum wondered aloud to himself. But his smirk dropped. “All things considered… I never wanted this really. Truly. I never wanted to kill anyone. I still don’t even now. But you threaten everything I hold dear, you threaten the entire world, and I can’t just let you do that if I have anything to say about it. And I do.”

Unfortunately, Callum underestimated Aaravos. He barely had time to register and dodge another corrosion shot from him, he moved so fast. The loss of focus meant that Callum’s high volume attack weakened, even if it was just for a few moments. Callum got back up after the second dodge only to find Aaravos gone from sight.

“Bastard!” Callum hissed, dashing towards the entryway of the alley hoping to catch him, but he wasn’t there either. Aaravos had vanished.

With the immediate danger gone, the soul energy stopped its rapid orbiting and solidified like a loyal little tool back in the palm of Callum’s outstretched hand. It seemed to know what was going on around him, synced up to his own thoughts somehow. 

_ Aaravos has to flee from you. You threatened him that much. Aren’t you proud of yourself, Callum? _

Was he proud? He could feel the bubblings of pride in his chest at the thought, but there was something else brewing as well. His own power had threatened, in his opinion, the biggest threat this world could face. What did that mean for him? What could he be described as now?

The pure adrenaline rush left Callum all at once, and his body suddenly sagged with exhaustion. He could worry and mull over the consequences of tonight in the morning. He deserved some rest now. 

But tomorrow… tomorrow he had to talk to Rayla about this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God that fight scene just sounds fucking stupid in my own head but. I wanted to show off just how Callum plans to weaponize sound because it's a real possible concept. Deadass bro. Volume hurts if it's too loud!
> 
> Also... Aaravos missed? And he seemed so surprised about it too... interesting....
> 
> Don't forget that using the playlist that I provide in the notes helps with the immersion of this fic! I might not be able to animate or write actual TV show episodes but I can still use music in each of my chapters.
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr! Ask me stuff about my fics!  
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)
> 
> (Side note I post stuff about SOS on my Tumblr that I don't talk about on here, so if you want some extra info/lore you should look there :D)


	13. Romance In The Air

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was a day like this that he would find himself absentmindedly walking to the Sunforge Diner. Callum still felt a bit bad about completely vanishing when Kazi was trying to serve him, plus he could eat. It was early afternoon, a bit of lunch wouldn’t hurt.
> 
> What he wasn’t expecting, however, when he walked through the diner’s door, was to see Rayla and Claudia chumming it up in a booth on the side. Neither of them seemed to notice him, deep in some conversation probably about girl stuff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One day I will be able to get into the habit of not waiting like 2 weeks between each chapter of this, today isn't that day apparently.
> 
> IT'S CHAPTER 13 AND I'M FINALLY FEEDING YOU ALL SOME ACTUALLY CUTE INTERACTIONS. SOME RAYLLUM, OBVIOUSLY, WITH CUTE FRIENDSHIP DYNAMICS BETWEEN CLAUDIA, CALLUM, AND RAYLA, BECAUSE WE ALL NEED IT.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

He hadn’t texted Rayla yet. To be fair, how on earth was he supposed to explain to her that he’d fought Aaravos in an alleyway last night and somewhat won? Won against  _ Aaravos?  _ He’d just discovered some of these abilities a week ago and the thought of himself already being stronger than a man that could literally erase the individuality of a soul scared the shit out of him. And the way he’d acted as well, so ready to just kill another person under the guise of ‘it’s what I have to do’, what was happening to him? These feelings were new and alarming. Callum already didn’t like the person he seemed to be turning into now. He was growing, changing, but at what cost? This didn’t seem like a change for the better.

Callum was starting to question his previous thoughts the night before. Maybe he shouldn’t tell Rayla. He could just as easily tell no one and keep that ridiculous encounter to himself, and that could be the end of it. No one was witness to the previous night’s spat anyway. And he doubted that Aaravos, as proudly arrogant as he was, would be willing to talk about such a humiliating defeat. He’d missed every attack thrown. From the small collection of stories Callum had heard about the man, he didn’t seem like the type to just miss so blatantly.

Either way, the energy from Rayla’s gifted soul orb had activated on its own this morning and had yet to go back to dormant mode. Maybe he was being a little anxious and panicky, and the energy was at the ready in case of danger like a loyal guard dog. No big deal, just a teenage boy walking down the streets with what looked like black smoke around his body. He could probably pass off as a smoker at this point. That’s probably what he looked like right about then anyways.

Yet despite all of these negative thoughts and connotations, the atmosphere of the day was surprisingly uplifting. The sky was clear, the temperature warm, the breeze light. It was a good day, by all accounts, even though nothing had personally happened to make it good. Not yet, at least. It was some random national holiday, so everyone had the day off from school. What holiday escaped his mind, since it didn’t really matter to him. A day where he was actually allowed to miss school instead of just missing school and taking the absence was a good day.

It was a day like this that he would find himself absentmindedly walking to the Sunforge Diner. Callum still felt a bit bad about completely vanishing when Kazi was trying to serve him, plus he could eat. It was early afternoon, a bit of lunch wouldn’t hurt.

What he wasn’t expecting, however, when he walked through the diner’s door, was to see Rayla and Claudia chumming it up in a booth on the side. Neither of them seemed to notice him, deep in some conversation probably about girl stuff.

“Oh! Hello Mr. Callum!” Came Kazi’s familiar voice.

Callum held a finger up to his lips quickly, a smirk on his face as he gestured to his two friends chatting away. Kazi looked at him confused for a moment, before realization washed over their face and nodded back in mischief.

Carefully, Callum crept over to the girls’ booth and suddenly announced his presence.

“So you two decided to have a girl’s day out and you didn’t invite me? I’m insulted.”

The boy broke out into untamed cackles when both of them severely startled at his words. Rayla had a hand over her heart with wide eyes while Claudia went straight to staring bloody murder at him.

“Oi! Only reason I didn’t invite you was because I didn’t want to be a third wheel to you two lovebirds. I can’t have anything, can I?” Claudia huffed in mock frustration.

“You wouldn’t have minded my company one bit, Clauds. I know you.” Callum bit back smugly, throwing himself into the booth seat next to her and dramatically placing his head on her shoulder. “We’ve been through so much together, you’d think there was love between the two of us!”

“Ha ha, very funny. You’d be right if you were talking about the love between  _ siblings. _ ”

Callum snorted, drawing back. “Oh yeah, let’s not relive that crush debacle, thank you.” He paused. “I was kinda just walking around town center a bit and decided I could do with some lunch, but if you guys truly wanna hang out by yourselves, I can leave.”

To his heart’s delight, both Rayla and Claudia shook their heads immediately. He was secretly hoping they’d let him stay, but at the same time he would’ve been quick to leave if they had wanted otherwise. His friends were allowed to hang out together without him, it all depended on the context of the hangout. But they wanted him there, and that fact sent such a warm feeling throughout his whole body. His expression softened immensely, while his orbiting soul energy reacted to the sudden surge of emotion. A faint uplifting melody began to radiate out from him, to his embarrassment and to the amusement of the girls.

“Really putting my little gift to good use, huh Callum?” Rayla teased casually, resting her head against her hand.

“I- I didn’t tell it to do this.” Callum mumbled under his breath with shy embarrassment, but made no effort to silence it.

“Aww, he got really happy and the feeling reacted to his little power source! Your innermost emotions have just been exposed by literal soul dust. Callum’s like a little puppy!” Claudia exclaimed with a mischievous grin.

“Why did I choose to stay here when all you two will do is double team me like this. I don’t deserve all this hate.” Callum mocked, but he was unable to keep the small smile from forming on his face.

“Aye, I still see a smile there on your face, you’re enjoying it just as much as we are.” Rayla pointed out.

The girls laughed as Callum groaned and let his head fall onto the booth table with a satisfying  _ thud.  _ These two were going to kill him. Claudia knew too much about him so she could tease him for just about anything, and with Rayla doing it as well… he was already stuttery and shy around her to begin with, and this really just wasn’t at all fair. Girls. Girls were going to be the cause of his death.

“You three better not be rough-housing over there! You might be special guests under the circumstances, but if you break anything I’ll make sure you get the repair bill!” Janai’s strong voice shouted from across the diner.

“Miss Janai, help, they’re ganging up on me.” Callum deadpanned, his face still buried into the table, eliciting some more giggles from his companions.

“Oh, there’s no need for such formalities you sweet thing. You can just call me Janai. Or even Aunt Janai, because I would gladly share custody of you with your current caretaker.” Janai replied with a wide smile, walking over to the trio’s table. “But only you can call me that. If I catch either of you two girls trying to call me that I’ll kick you out of my diner.”

Claudia snorted. “Hey, look, Callum, you have two aunts after all.” She paused, thinking about this fact. “Hey, Janai, have you ever even met Callum’s aunt in the first place?”

“I don’t think so, no. Unless she’d come here to the diner before and I just didn’t notice. But I’ve heard a bit of information from Runaan and Ethari. Apparently she ripped Runaan a new one, and honestly anyone who can do that gets respect from me.” Janai replied with a chuckle.

“Facts.” Claudia said in agreement.

“Well, I could probably bring my aunt and my brother here sometime. They’re both kind of in the loop about the Moonshadows and stuff. And I can’t remember the last time I went out to eat with the two of them.” Callum mumbled, fiddling with his menu.

“Mmm hmm. Right, well, I’ll leave you three teenagers to your joking and talking for now, I’ll be back in a bit to take your orders. Callum, since you never got your free food the last time, that’s still a valid promise. And I’ll extend it to Rayla and Claudia too, because I’m feeling nice. Don’t break any of my furniture.”

With that, Janai left the proximity of their table, and the three of them were left to shoot the shit again.

“So you two were in some deep conversation before I scared the shit out of you, what were you guys talking about?” Callum asked.

“Oh. Oh you have no idea, Cal. This girl is afraid of  _ water. _ ” Claudia said, her tone full of disbelief.

“Shut up!” Rayla whined, her head falling into her hands.

“Afraid of water? Why water? That’s like, the most random thing to be afraid of. And it’s one of the biggest factors that keep us alive!” Callum exclaimed. “Are you scared of bathing or something? Are you one of those weirdos that would never step foot into a shower and just choose to drown themselves in scented oils and perfumes?”

“Nah nah, Callum, I was theorizing that she just takes a washcloth and washes that way, and then just dips her head under the bath faucet and washes her hair like that. Mainly because I’m guilty of doing the same thing sometimes.”

Rayla looked mortified. “You two aren’t supposed to be ganging up on me, it’s supposed to be the other way around! I don’t like this.”

Callum laughed softly. “Ah, how the tables have turned. But don’t worry about it, phobias aren’t exactly things people choose to have. I can understand how the panic must feel, though, if it’s anything like generalized anxiety. If it bothers you that we’re teasing, just say so and we’ll stop.”

Claudia nodded. “Yeah, what Mr. Smitten said.”

“Claudia I’m going to end your life if you call me that ever again.”

Rayla burst out into snorty giggles. “Your two’s dynamic is so entertaining. It really is like two siblings that just like taking the piss out of each other all the time, I love it.”

Claudia’s expression exploded into a wide grin as she suddenly wrapped an arm around Callum’s shoulders and used her other arm to give him a noogie. “Oh yeah, Rayla, meet my little brother from another mother! His name is Callum and he’s a total doormat, but he’s really nice and sweet when you get to know him!”

Rayla continued to laugh as Callum shouted indignantly and furiously tried to bat away Claudia’s offending hand. Janai eventually came back, and gave them disappointed stares once they realized they hadn’t even bothered to consider what they wanted to eat. Janai had to stand there for an extra few minutes waiting for them to hurry up and decide, which didn’t necessarily matter since no one else was currently dining there. Once orders were placed, the menus were collected, and Janai left them alone once more.

“Do we have any plans for after we finish eating here, or are we just going to go our separate ways after the meal?” Callum asked.

“Well, considering my house is an absolute no on the basis of Rayla’s safety, maybe we could go to your house instead Callum.” Claudia offered.

Callum’s face suddenly paled. “We didn’t tell them.”

“What are you talking about?”

Callum shot Rayla and Claudia serious looks. “Runaan and Ethari. We didn’t tell them about your father, Clauds. The fact that Viren and Aaravos are talking is still something they need to know, even if there’s the slightest chance that Viren isn’t actually in on the plans Aaravos has for the world.”

Claudia shifted uneasily. “Right… my dad’s still an issue. I’d forgotten that we never said anything.”

“I don’t know if it’s even a good idea.” Rayla cut in suddenly. “I know my dads more than anyone else, and if we tell them this they might do something… rash. Or, at least Runaan would. The last thing I want is conflict between my family and yours, Claudia.”

Claudia blinked. “That’s… really sweet. But this whole thing is a matter of your life and the whole world. I still think we should consider telling your dads.”

Callum frowned at the shift in atmosphere he’d caused. His hand went into his pocket, where his gifted soul orb now lay quiet and dormant. He thought about what had happened the night before, and how it would keep the mood in this dulled state if he were to bring it up.

_ Maybe next time. _

“We can think about those things later.” Callum said softly, capturing the attention of the two girls. “Right now, we were all having a lot of fun before I mentioned the topic. We’re teenagers. Let’s just have a moment where we live our lives as regular kids who’s biggest stresser is the homework due the next day. We can worry about the ‘fate of the world’ in a few hours. Agreed?”

“Amen.” Claudia said, placing her arm around Callum’s shoulders again.

Rayla stared at him, giving him a soft smile with an emotion he couldn’t quite place reflecting in her eyes. “Agreed.”

* * *

“Mistakes were made. I’m dying, too much food consumed, I can’t even walk.” Claudia said dramatically, falling to her knees just outside of the Sunforge Diner doors. “This is it! It’s the end for me!”

“Yeah, I’ll tell Soren to collect your deceased body off of the sidewalk.” Callum replied without missing a beat.

“Charming.” Claudia said, rolling her eyes while Rayla laughed again. “Help me up, oh adoptive brother of mine?”

Callum eyed her hand hesitantly. “You're going to pull me down with you.”

“And why would I ever do that? Lies and slander!”

“Oh, just help her up Callum. Here, if it makes you feel better, you can hold my hand and if she does try to pull you down, I can keep you steady.” Rayla offered.

_ Now these girls were offering their hands. What the hell.  _ Callum puffed out a breath, trying not to think about what he was doing when he carefully slipped his hand into Rayla’s. He was not going to think about how small her hand was against his, and how it was warm, and-

“Caaaaaaallum. Stop zoning out, dummy! Help me up or I'm gonna start begging in UwU dialect!” Claudia said, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“You start talking like that and I'm definitely leaving you here to die.” Callum deadpanned, but reached out to pull her up anyways.

Callum took a deep breath, exhaling slowly as he looked up at the clear sky. Today was a good day, truly. What a rare thing to say, at least for him. There had been good days in the past, most definitely, but this one just felt so much more special. Without hesitation, he dug his hand into his pocket again and fished out his little gifted orb. All he had to do was look at it and think about what he wanted, before the orb dropped its solidity and returned to orbiting around him. The same uplifting melody that had been playing before returned, but stronger and louder this time.

The trio walked along the sidewalk for a few minutes in comfortable silence, if you could even call it that. Callum observed quietly the reactions of the two girls to his projected melody, how smiles would tug at the corners of their lips with each swell of music, and how even so slightly their ears would twitch along with the song when visible. It was moments like these that did wonders to reassure him that having these powers didn’t necessarily make him bound to hurt anyone with them. As much as he was now training to weaponize this power, it could also bring joy and relaxation to the ones around him. This fact gave him the hope he needed to latch onto, and for now, all of the worries about his previous encounter with Aaravos melted away. Like he’d said in the diner, the fate of the world could wait. The three of them had every right to live life like normal as much as they could, because no one knew what would happen in the future.

“You know, I’d suggest we could hit up the community pool, but one of us is a cat incarnate.” Callum said with a smug side look at the person in question.

“Ha ha, keep digging at me. Don’t act surprised when you start drowning and I don’t come in to save you.”

Was there really any words to describe how deep the happiness that he was feeling was? He couldn’t think of anything truly fitting. If anything, the song was doing more of the talking for him. He felt a ridiculous grin spread across his face, as he dared to intertwine his hands again with the two girls on both of his sides, swinging their joined arms up and down in time with the melody. A collective silliness fell over the trio, as something about the feeling of the melody enticed them to somewhat dance along. Three teenage friends, walking together down the sidewalk all moving and twirling to an airborne song with echoing laughter.

“We must look like complete buffoons to anyone else who might see us.” Claudia breathed out in between fading chuckles.

“Oh, let them stare. We’re having fun and that’s all that matters. Right Callum?” Rayla prompted, suddenly grasping at Callum’s arm and pulling him closer to her.

Claudia watched with a knowing look as they joined their hands and twirled themselves around in a circle together with the melody following along. She really hadn’t been lying before when she’d teased them about being the third wheel, but in the end, she really didn’t mind. It was amazing to see Callum be this happy, it was good for him. Rayla was good for him, just like Claudia had predicted she would be.

  
Claudia chuckled to herself, making sure to keep up with the pair who were slowly twirling themselves down the sidewalk still.  _ Maybe it’s a good idea to leave them to themselves for a bit of alone time. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just,,, wanted to write them more real in aspects of age. They're just teenagers,,, who by all accounts should live normal lives as they deserve but they're all roped into this danger zone,,,, just let them be happy,,,,,,,  
> On god if I had the ability to draw I would've drawn the scene of Callum and Rayla fuckin twirling down the sidewalk like 10 years ago please the serotonin
> 
> k see yall in another like 2 fuckin weeks, pls leave reviews they make me feel better and might help me write more faster
> 
> Come say hi to me on Tumblr! Ask me stuff about my fics!  
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> (Side note I post stuff about SOS on my Tumblr that I don't talk about on here, so if you want some extra info/lore you should look there :D)


	14. Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leave it to Claudia to suddenly find an excuse as to why she couldn’t continue hanging out with him and Rayla. Callum had a sneaking suspicion that the reason she’d given was complete nonsense. But as she put it, ‘Soren needed someone to spot him with his new weights and their dad wasn’t home’, and off she scuttled. Absolute traitor. It’s not like Soren needed to start bench pressing right that moment, he already spent most of his time working out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fastest update ever? What the fuck I don't know how I finished this so fast after the last chapter. Idk. Fucking. take it
> 
> Also as I said in my AU notes, up until this point I’ve just been throwing the mentally ill label at these characters and it’s important that I at least give some detail into what experiences they’ve had that have made them this way. Mental illness isn’t just a plot device and I don’t want to act like it is. That's why this chapter is less happy-go-lucky. I wanted to have them talk about their issues so there's actual depth to why their mental states are why they are.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

Leave it to Claudia to suddenly find an excuse as to why she couldn’t continue hanging out with him and Rayla. Callum had a sneaking suspicion that the reason she’d given was complete nonsense. But as she put it, ‘Soren needed someone to spot him with his new weights and their dad wasn’t home’, and off she scuttled. Absolute traitor. It’s not like Soren needed to start bench pressing right that moment, he already spent most of his time working out.

Nevertheless, Claudia had parted ways the moment the three of them had gotten back to their neighborhood. With her gone, the pair of them decided to instead go to their spot in the Midnight Forest. Yes, it was their spot now. That didn’t mean anything more than it was, it was only their spot because they both went there semi often. Yeah. That was the reason. Nothing else.

So that’s where they were now, with the sun setting lazily on the horizon. Some clouds had set in now, and the atmosphere had that almost melancholy feeling to it but at the same time, there was no sadness to be felt. They’d had a rather late lunch, plus they had taken their sweet time hanging out at the Sunforge Diner, yet under the circumstances the fact the day was ending already was a bit jarring. Days off from school always seemed to go by so quickly, it was unfair. But that was just the nature of time.

“What’re you thinking about, hmm?” Rayla’s soft voice interrupted his thoughts.

Callum felt himself shifting back into reality, where the feeling of Rayla’s hand still in his sent a warm, prickly feeling down his back. They hadn’t stopped holding hands. Both of them were laid on their backs in the grass, staring up at the clouds as they changed colors in the progressing sunset.

“Oh… not much.” He replied calmly, before continuing. “Have you ever thought about how life would be like if we could just… do whatever we wanted? Within reason, obviously. How much easier life could be without all these responsibilities we have. The Moonshadows, Aaravos… you don’t have school, but that applies for me. All this stuff that we have to worry about just so our lives could be normal in a twisted sense.”

Rayla fell strangely silent. “Of course I have.” Came the quiet response. “So much of my life has been spent thinking about that exact idea. Having a normal life. A life that didn’t impact those around me so heavily like my current life has…”

Callum frowned, turning his head to look at her with concern. “Are you okay?”

She sighed. “I’m not really good with this emotional stuff. I never have been, considering who my dads are. Runaan’s tougher to crack than a walnut, and while Ethari’s more fluid with how he handles the more serious topics, he isn’t much better these days.”

“So you haven’t had the best emotional support network.” Callum summarized with an even deeper frown. He turned himself on his side to fully face Rayla now, hands still intertwined. “Talk to me. I know how awful it can be to bottle your feelings up all the time. Maybe it’ll make you feel better. We can call it Big Feelings Time!”

Rayla turned on her side to match Callum, their hands separating now due to the position shifts. She had a small smile on her face as she regarded him. “Fine. Only if we agree we are never actually calling it that.” 

Callum simply nodded with a small smile of his own, keeping himself silent in order to give Rayla center stage.

“Well… I suppose I could start off with the biggest thing.” Rayla mumbled, her gaze falling to the grass. “Ever since I was old enough to be really aware of the world around me, there’s never been a time in my waking hours that I didn’t feel overwhelmingly guilty for… well, everything. My powers, they make me the biggest walking target on the planet. And because of that, because of  _ me,  _ people are dead. They gave their lives to protect me when I was still a small child and didn’t understand the real meaning of their actions. But now I do, and it just… hurts. It sits there in my stomach, and in my heart, and I know that no matter how you try to explain it, the blame always finds its way back to me. If I hadn’t been born with this power, maybe those that died for me would still be alive.”

“I don’t think any of us told you or Claudia about Zym’s dad. Not that I was able to remember much of him to begin with. He was a pretty strong man, intimidating, but so very caring when it came to Zubeia and Zym. His name was Avizandum, but I guess everyone called him Thunder as a nickname. Ethari always said he had a booming voice, which is probably where that nickname came from. But a few months before the loss of my parents, Aaravos had been making a mess back where we used to live. The province of Xadia, a massive area on the other side of the continent. We lived specifically in a city called the Silvergrove, I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of it. But back then, apparently Aaravos had a bit of a cult following. They were causing trouble, so Avizandum went out with a few other Moonshadow members to try and combat the chaos. But it was all a ruse. Aaravos had sent those lackeys into the city to cause chaos while he snuck off alone to get me. He left his group to chase Aaravos down alone. In the end, I was taken somewhere safer where I couldn’t be found, but it only took the other Moonshadow members to find his lifeless body in the suburb my old house was in.”

“Apparently Aaravos used to taunt my parents, Runaan, Ethari, everyone for years after his death. He’d grin, retelling the tale of how Avizandum fell. He would say that he died with tears in his eyes, a body reaction as his dying mind realized he’d never see his son grow up, or see his wife ever again. It tore Zubeia to pieces every time, and it got under the skin of everyone else each time. They had to learn to harden themselves against his cruel taunts, so they wouldn’t slip up and lose anyone else. Not that it mattered a few months later…”

“But every time I think about the sacrifice Avizandum made, for the group, for me, I can’t find it in myself to let it be. Sure, I am thankful for what he did, but I was the reason he died. I’m the reason he died, the reason my parents died, the reason Zym has to grow up without a father, and the reason why Zubeia is only a husk of the person she used to be. I’m to blame for all of it, and I know I can’t control the circumstances of how I was born, but what else am I supposed to think? No matter the fact it was out of my hands, it’s because of me they’re all dead. And sometimes… sometimes I think maybe everyone else would have been better off if they’d just given me to Aaravos a long time ago.”

Callum was speechless. He hadn’t expected Rayla to open up to him this much, and for her to have this much baggage and self-hate. He bothered him greatly that she’d been left to think these thoughts to herself all alone, when her adoptive dads could’ve shown her just the slightest bit of understanding enough to relieve some of the pressure. He could see her eyes shining, and the beginnings of tears pooling at the corners of her eyes. He frowned deeply, reaching a hand out, hesitating, before pulling the both of them into a sitting position. He didn’t give himself time to think about what he was doing before he placed a hand softly on her cheek, thumb stroking slowly to wipe away the tears that escaped.

“I… I’m sorry Rayla. I’m sorry that this has been eating away at you for so long, and you had no one to talk to about it. I’m a bit miffed at your dads for this, but that’s not the point right now. You need to know that you shouldn’t blame yourself for any of this. What Avizandum did, what your parents did, that was all their conscious choice to make. They  _ wanted  _ to protect you and they surely knew the dangers of doing so. You were important enough to them that they would do such a thing. But that doesn’t make you to blame. You said it yourself, you had no control of how you were born, or what power you were born with. That was never a conscious choice you made. It’s not your fault.”

Rayla let out a watery laugh, bringing her own hand up to cover Callum’s. “You can say that all you want, but I don’t think I’ll be able to believe you.”

“I know.” Callum sighed. “I’m well aware of how blaming oneself for something works. I just wish I could convince you somehow that the words I’m saying to you are the truth.”

Rayla shook her head, blinking away her tears and clearing her throat. “It’s alright. I’m just glad I got to talk about it for once. You have no real reason to listen to all of that.”

“No real reason?” Callum asked incredulously. “Rayla, I had every reason to listen. We’re friends now, aren’t we? What kind of shitty friend would I be if I didn’t support you through the good and the bad? I care, I really do. I know it can be hard to understand that, but it’s true.”

Rayla smiled warmly at him, letting both of their hands fall from her face and back down to the ground. Their hands stayed intertwined again. “Thank you.”

For a few minutes, the pair sat next to each other in silence again, simply watching the clouds go by, and the sky changing colors as the sun continued to set. Golds, oranges, and pinks filled their surroundings as the light slowly faded from the trees of the forest. Eventually, Rayla spoke up again.

“What about you? I did my turn, it’s only fair that I repay you in the same way. There must be something bumping around in that head of yours you’d want to let out.”

_ Yeah, there is. I fought Aaravos last night and won. That concept terrifies me to no end, that I can be stronger than a soul destroyer, and if I’ve learned anything about how corruption works, it's that immense power does the job real quick. _

But of course, he didn't say any of that.

“Well… on the topic of blaming oneself, I guess. I guess both of us have had that issue. Though I think I was a little more aware of what was going on when I was a child than you, no offense. Back when my parents were… still alive, I used to allow my Soul Perception to just run freely. My world as a child was never silent, there was always some melody coming from somewhere around me. Sometimes it would get extremely noisy, overloading, and I think sometimes that would send me into a mini panic attack. That might’ve been the start of my anxiety issues, I don't know. But I told my mom about my power first. Her reaction was more concerned and uncomfortable than what I'd expected. That was the start of my doubts.”

“Then she died, not too long after that event. It was sudden, and unfair, and back then I couldn't fully comprehend it. I knew that she was gone, by some cruel twist of fate, but the details of how she died was never told to me until I was way older. So, with that lack of information, my young mind made the conclusion that it had to have been something relating to my power. I started blaming myself, even as young as I was. My father- well, step-father- followed shortly after. Then Ezran and I were sent hours away from our home to live with Aunt Amaya. Everything happened so fast, and I had to find something to explain it all. So I believed that my power had done all of it. Took my parents, sent me away from home, all of it. It was at that point that I started teaching myself how to block my Soul Perception so that it couldn't take anyone else away from me. My world became so much more quiet after that.”

Callum took a shuddering breath, furiously trying to blink away the tears that were threatening to spill over. “I miss them a lot.”

“Callum…”

“And I’ve never talked about the full extent of that constant power blocking to anyone. Not even to Claudia, not to my brother, or my aunt. But it’s so taxing on me, to keep it under control for so long. It’s a never ending energy consumer, taking my focus, all because a power like mine is clearly not meant to be contained. And I can’t just let it out free, because of the moral consequences. But…”

He trailed off slowly, staring directly into Rayla’s eyes. “I’m so tired, Rayla. I’m tired and used to it all at the same time, and I’m just stuck. I don’t know what to do about it. I’m going to burn myself out at some point and I don’t know what will come after it. I… I’m scared of what will happen if I lose control of anything.”

“Oh Callum… come here.” Rayla sighed wistfully, stretching out her arms as an invitation to her.

Callum fell against her without any hesitation, cheek resting against her chest as silent tears fell from his closed eyes. She buried a hand into his hair, the other hand softly resting against his chest. Callum brought an arm to grab at her wrist, trying to keep his own hold on reality. He knew that the tears wouldn’t stop now, as soon as they started they had to go all the way to the end. He just wished, in the back of his mind, he could’ve been strong enough not to fall apart in front of Rayla.

“Shh… I’m here. I’ve got you. You’re okay.” It came out barely above a whisper. “Listen… maybe you should allow yourself daily breaks. Or every other day, depending on what you can manage. You don’t have to keep your Soul Perception blocked up when it’s just us out here, I promise. I don’t mind you being able to hear my soul song if it means you can give yourself a break. You’ve already heard it multiple times, after all. I trust you.”

Callum sniffled, refusing to open his eyes. “Unlocking it always feels so alien nowadays… I don’t know if I can get into the habit of such a thing. Not to, like, completely trample on your idea, I just don’t know…”

“Callum.” Rayla pulled him into a position where she could look at him properly. Her bright eyes captivated him and all he could do was look back. “I  _ trust  _ you, okay? This is me admitting to you, right now, that even if you didn’t have Soul Perception, I am allowing you to listen to my soul song. I’m sharing it with you, even though you’d never really need my permission to hear it in the first place. I don’t know if this means anything to you in the long run, but I want you to know anyways.”

Callum flashed her a tired smile. “What a pair of crazies we are, huh?” He paused. “Thank you. I’ll consider the offer. I still have my hesitations despite what you said. I hope that doesn’t offend you or anything.”

“Of course not. You can take all of the time you need to decide. It’s your mind, your body, your choice. I can’t force you into anything and I’d never dream of doing as such.”

* * *

Something seemed to have changed within their dynamic now. They’d parted ways after the sun had fully gone down over the horizon, neither of them wanting to miss dinner or stay out in the dark for once. But something had clearly changed.

_ “Hey… talk to you tomorrow, maybe?” _

_ “You have training with Ethari after school, dummy. Of course you’ll talk to me tomorrow. I wouldn’t miss the chance to see Ethari wipe the floor with you anyways.” _

Perhaps the venting session they had together in the Midnight Forest broke down more boundaries than Callum had originally thought. It was an emotional risk, to open up that much to another person, no matter how much history you had with them. Whether it be years or a few days, you still never know how the other would respond to your vulnerability. But Rayla had been just as open and understanding as he’d hoped, and despite the sour turn the day had taken, he still felt happy in some way.

It was odd, because usually after an emotional roller coaster like that, he’d feel numb or still dulled and despairing. But all he could find himself thinking about was  _ Rayla, Rayla, Rayla, Rayla.  _ The white haired girl was in the forefront of his thoughts, Rayla this, Rayla that. There was no room to think about sad things.

There was an unfamiliar tug in his heart now, as he lay in bed awaiting his trip into dreamland. He had school tomorrow, after all, and then training after it. But this feeling in his chest, it was almost like… he missed her?

That made no sense, he’d just seen her hours before. And he’d get to see her again tomorrow, although his main focus would have to be on Ethari and his training. Why would he feel like this? Was he just going crazy? Or…

_ Oh. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So when Rayla hugs/comforts Callum at the end there, that's actually based off of Sugarssaur's art. Credit where credit is due babes. So yeah I didn't come up with it, I wrote it specifically to match the art as much as possible, so go check out her art. I don't know how to embed links in the notes area so you'll just have to take my word for it I guess :')
> 
> It might seem like I'm stalling a bit on the plot here but the character relationships and dynamics are just as important to me as building the conflict, so you're gonna be getting more character growth for now than plot with Aaravos. But he'll return soon, don't worry. Or do worry. Fear him.
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> (Side note I post stuff about SOS on my Tumblr that I don't talk about on here, so if you want some extra info/lore you should look there :D)


	15. Better Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Callum and Rayla's relationship grows over time~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter exists only so I can advance the AU's universe by a few weeks, hence why you will see active chronological time in this one. Chapter 15 = Rayllum stans get fed with a bunch of silly shit that's basically what my notes look like
> 
> I've had a lot more drive to write this lately which is cool but that also means my drive to do art jumped off a cliff lmao why can't I just have both for once
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

_ October 8th _

“Tell me exactly why I’m here at your house, watching you fail to make these pastry thingies?” Rayla asked with a teasing tone.

“They’re called jelly tarts, Rayla, and you’re supposed to be  _ helping  _ me.” Callum replied with a slight whine.

“I think it’s funnier to watch you struggle with the dough shape.”

“Gee, thanks.” He paused. “But to answer your question, I thought it would be… fun to just hang out for a bit today. Do something relatively normal among other things. I just thought…”

Rayla could sense the self-doubt brewing in him from a mile away, sending her into a slight panic. “No no! It’s okay, I understand the reasoning. I’m just wondering because you seem to be god awful at baking and I know for a fact I am also terrible at baking.”

Callum snorted. “You’re just so full of compliments, aren’t you?”

“Of course! Don’t you know me, Callum?”

“Well, I could be honest, I could get to know a lot more about you, Rayla.”

Silence. Both of them seemed to be taken aback by the honest statement, as if it wasn’t expected. It occurred to Rayla that he wasn’t wrong at all- the circumstances that they’d been brought together hadn’t exactly started with getting to know the other. It had been more of a 'chance encounter and suddenly we’re both threatened by the same bastard of a man’. And they get along pretty well, despite it all, but besides the trauma and the abilities the two have shared, there wasn’t much else they knew about each other. Well, that wouldn’t do, would it?

“Do you wanna go to town center and get a coffee sometime?” Rayla blurted before she could think about what she was saying.

Callum blinked. “Are… are you asking me on a date?”

The blush that bloomed on Rayla’s face was something Callum would not admit that he immediately committed to memory- it was cute, okay? A cute facial expression that he could use in drawing practice later. Nothing else to it, clearly.

“Th-that came out wrong, I’m sorry! That’s not what I was trying to imply, I was just thinking about what you said and you’re absolutely right and I thought I would try to put in an effort like you are and-”

“Breathe, Rayla.” Callum interrupted with a few chuckles. “No need for this furious backpedaling, I was only teasing. We can go out for a not coffee date sometime, I don’t mind!”

She stopped, still refusing to look him in the eye. “R-right. Of course. You’re understanding, I should have a little more faith in you.”

“I’d sacrifice faith for the event that you actually come here and help me shape these jelly tarts.”

“I’d rather watch the jelly you’re unaware of drip down the counter and onto the floor.”

“Oh  _ shit _ !”

* * *

_ October 10th _

“So this is not a date, if I remember correctly.”

“Are you just going to hold that embarrassment over my head for the rest of forever?” Rayla groaned, hanging her head as her hands were wrapped gently around her coffee cup.

“Absolutely. That and the water teasing is the only thing I have to fight back. Claudia’s got years of embarrassing things about me she’s probably already told you.” Callum grinned. “What did you order anyways?”

“...Hot chocolate with mini marshmallows.”

Callum couldn’t help it; he burst out laughing, doing his best not to knock his own cup over. Rayla’s face turned red again just like it had a couple days prior.

“What? Why’re you laughing at me?”

“I’m sorry, I’m not laughing at you to be mean, it’s just… it’s funny that we’ve come to a coffee shop and you don’t even order coffee.”

The look Rayla gave him was the most emotionally done face he’d ever seen. Enough to make him burst into laughter again, but this time, Rayla joined him in laughing. He wondered briefly if she found his laughter infectious-  _ not that this fact mattered at all, not one bit- _

“I just like hot chocolate, is that such a crime?”

“So you’re telling me you have a sweet tooth, and yet you didn’t help me make the jelly tarts two days ago, I’m getting mixed signals.”

“Oh I know I could’ve helped you make those jelly tarts, I chose not to because I would’ve started garbage-mouthing the jelly behind your back.”

Callum shook his head with an amused smile. “Just like Ez. You two are sweet fiends, it’s a problem. I don’t even know how either of you have healthy, surviving teeth at this rate.”

Rayla grinned. “It’s an old family secret, I’m sorry to say it but I’ve been lying to you this whole time. My other soul power is having undefeated teeth.”

“Uh huh.” Callum wasn’t paying much attention anymore, his eyes were zeroed in on Rayla’s cup, which had no lid now since she was absentmindedly picking the marshmallows out to eat.

Rayla immediately caught on. Her eyes narrowed. “Oh no you don’t. These are my marshmallows.”

No verbal response.

“ _ Callum. _ ”

When Rayla would look back at this moment later, she’d consider the fact that Callum profusely apologizing as he trailed after her when she went stomping out of the store was rather cute. He was even offering to buy her a new shirt! Though in the end, all she ended up doing was stealing his cute red scarf. Luckily for her, he spent the next hour complaining about the autumn chill.

What a treat.

* * *

_ October 13th _

“Rayla, I have homework to do. I don’t know why you’re in my house like you’re Claudia but I can’t mess around with you right now.”

“Booo, you’re no fun. You just got out of school, and now you’re right back to doing work for it! Can’t you do it later? It’s not like it’s gonna grow legs and walk away.” She complained, kicking her legs lazily in the air from her position on his bed. She was just casually laying on  _ his  _ bed like she owned the place, by the way.

“Have you  _ seen  _ what my attendance record looks like? I can’t afford to just slack off on homework when I’m not even going to school every other day. There’s only so much Mr. Gren can do to cover my ass.”

“Just drop out!” Rayla exclaimed with a cackle. “Who needs school anyway! I don’t go to school and I’m fine!”

“Yeah, tell that to Runaan and Ethari when you move out and suddenly can’t find a job to save your life.”

Rayla pouted and rolled her eyes. “No fun, I tell you. What am I supposed to do while I slowly pass away waiting for you to finish your boring-ness?”

Callum rolled his eyes back at her. “Well considering how you’re so at home in my room for whatever reason I’m sure you’ll have no trouble finding something to entertain yourself. Go bother Ezran or something, I’m sure he’d let you play with Bait or something.”

“Nooo but I wanna stay here in your general area so I can tease you!”

“Mmm, what a healthy dynamic this friendship has.”

“Aww, don’t be like that you big baby.” Rayla said, rising from her lounging on his bed to drape her arms over his shoulders once he’d turned back around in his chair. “Maybe I’ll entertain myself by watching your silly self dance to your music.”

Callum’s face reddened. “I’m never dancing to music unless I’m by myself, thanks.”

He felt the movement of Rayla’s shaking head behind him, and he desperately tried not to think about it.  _ Just don’t think about how close her face is to yours, Callum. Wait, why does this bother me? _

“Well, since you want to be as interesting as a boulder, I’ll just be over here, claiming your bed for a nap. You have an extremely unfairly comfortable bed and it’s now mine.”

“Uh huh. Just don’t ruin my blanket or something while you’re at it. It’s not like I told you to make yourself at home anyway.”

Callum made sure to bury himself in his math homework after that. He could hear Rayla tossing and turning around on  _ his  _ bed behind him. He was not going to let his mind linger on the fact there was a girl in his room and she was choosing to sleep in his bed. It was almost baffling how comfortable Rayla had gotten with him over the past few days, and he couldn’t help but wonder if the trauma sharing back in the Midnight Forest had completely shattered any boundary their friendship could have had. She was acting like they’d known each other for years, for god’s sake.

Yet Callum didn’t mind it one bit.

He casually continued with his online math homework, unaware of the time passing as he did so. Eventually, his math assignment was done, and he got up from his computer chair to stretch out his muscles. Before he could open his mouth to talk to Rayla again, he turned and saw her fast asleep under his blanket with her cheek squished against his pillow.

_ Oh dear god she’s adorable. _

After Callum had to mentally tell himself to close his gawking mouth, he sighed, his eyes softening at the sight before him. His gaze returned to his computer, where he quickly typed in the link for YouTube and pulled up his playlist for when he’d usually go to bed himself, titled  [ _ Chillwave _ ](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-J0yXpaTUl5JfhyWcc-sceT) _.  _ After that, he wordlessly went downstairs to go and talk to Ezran.

_ Sweet dreams, Rayla. _

* * *

_ October 16th _

“You and Rayla have been getting mighty close recently, you know.”

Oh no. Callum had been fearing this conversation with Claudia for the past week. This girl was ruthless in this sort of thing, for all he knew his whole life was on the line.

“...Yeah? We’re friends, isn’t it normal for friends to get closer as time goes on?” He replied innocently, trying to starve Claudia of any high ground.

“Yes, buuuut…” Claudia started, “Friends becoming closer also has the potential for the relationship to grow into something a bit moooore…”

Callum bit his lip. Of course she would be trying to get him to think about it, as if he already hadn’t. As the days passed, it was getting particularly hard not to think about those strange, unusual feelings that passed through him whenever Rayla was around or the subject of a full-blown conversation. It would be foolish for him to keep telling himself that there was nothing there, because it was obviously something at this point. But it also worried him a bit.

Wasn’t this too fast? There hadn’t been too much time in between their first meeting and now, it just seemed… rushed. And to be fair, the only instance of friend-to-crush he’d ever gone through was with Claudia, but even then that took longer than what was happening now. Too many cons, not enough pros. Overall, he didn’t think it was important enough to deeply consider. He wasn’t even sure if his mental state allowed him the capacity to handle a relationship like that anyway.

“Rayla wouldn’t think of me like that anyways, Clauds. And there’s nothing wrong with the friendship we have now.”

“I heard that Rayla literally fell asleep in your bed and you just let her stay there.”

“Wh-?! Who told you that?”

“Ezran.”

Callum grumbled under his breath. “Little traitor.”

He felt Claudia’s eye roll before he saw it. “Alright you drama queen. You do whatever you want, but I can see through your lies.”

* * *

_ October 20th _

“Oh no! You’re about to die, Callum! Oh wouldn’t it be a  _ shame  _ if you suddenly messed up!” Rayla exclaimed dramatically as she continued to randomly jostle and poke at Callum as he desperately tried to stay focused.

“Rayla I swear to  _ god  _ if you make me die against Grimm again I will quit Cuphead forever and also make you regret it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I haven’t done anything to you.”

And then Callum died again with one more jostle.

“Alright that’s it!”

Rayla shrieked as Callum flung the controller away from him and tackled her down into the couch, digging his fingers into her sides, watching with a playful grin as she became a squirmy and giggly mess under him.

“Are you gonna apologize for messing me up now?”

“F-free me you heartless fiend!” Rayla shouted in between cackles.

“Absolutely not. You made me die on Grimm’s fight a hair away from winning, and you have to pay the price! Justice will not be denied, you video game assassin!”

Well, that was his justification, before Rayla managed to maneuver her foot under his chest and forcefully push him off of her. He always forgot how freakishly strong she was.

“I can never win. The world is a cruel and unfavorable mistress.” Callum lamented from his spot on the carpet- she’d actually pushed him completely off the couch.

He heard Rayla snort above him. “Woe is you.”

* * *

_ October 30th _

“Oh god, we killed him. Look at Callum zoning out on the couch. That’s the face of a man who’s leaving reality.” Claudia said with a pointed finger.

Callum, on said couch, had his eyes half lidded and looked a few seconds away from either vomiting or just passing out. The four of them weren’t sure who’s idea it originally was to order that much pizza and bread sticks, but the general consensus was that they’d all bitten off more than they could chew.

“I’m going to explode. This is the last day of my life.” Callum moaned dramatically, placing an arm over his forehead to really sell the theatrics.

“Callum’s a coward. Even Bait could eat more pizza than you!” Ezran declared, holding up the dog in question.

“That’s not good for the dog, Ezran.”

“You’re not good for the dog.”

Claudia and Rayla descended into snickers as the brothers had their little fruitless argument. Amaya had work that required her to leave the boys home alone for a few days, and of course the first thought was to have a mini-party in the wake of having no adult supervision. Plus, three of them had a rather taxing training session right before they’d ordered the food, so maybe in their hunger they severely overestimated themselves.

“Guys, we still have like, two whole pizzas left.” Claudia said, now pointing to the unopened boxes.

“Leftovers.” Callum grumbled, squeezing his eyes shut as he moved his arms to hold his stomach lightly. “I regret many things.”

“I will gladly take a whole box for myself when I go home, you know.” Rayla said, eyeing the boxes with her arms stretched out in a ‘grabby hands’ motion.

“Ha, imagine going home. I’m sleeping over.” Claudia replied.

“Oh no. Claudia’s staying over. My room’s gonna be turned into a fat mess.” Callum whined.

“Hey! Turning your room into a bird’s nest of pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals all over the place is the only way to have a good sleepover!”

They trailed off and noticed that Rayla suddenly had a 1000-mile stare off into nothingness.

“Rayla? You okay girl?” Claudia asked.

“I’ve changed my mind. I’m staying too.”

Ezran and Claudia erupted into cheers while Callum only raised an eyebrow.

“Are you sure? I don’t know if Runaan and Ethari would be okay with that, as far as I know…”

“Oh, they can’t control me like that forever. It’s not like it’s just you and me staying in your house alone overnight, no funny business. Even if they say no they’d have to come over here and drag me away themselves. I wanna stay.”

“Yes! Time to completely turn Callum’s room into an entire train-wreck!”

“NO! GET BACK HERE!”

But Claudia was already running up the stairs, Rayla and Ezran right behind her. Callum groaned, slowly hauling himself up off the couch. He wasn’t even the oldest of the group, and yet he seemed to be the most responsible anyways. Not that they’d listen to him at this point anyway. He trudged up the stairs after them, watching with amused dismay as various soft objects were being tossed around in the air by the other three.

“None of you are even going to help me clean this up tomorrow morning, are you.”

“Absolutely not!” The three chorused.

Callum visibly deflated, shaking his head as he walked over to sit in his computer chair. “Well, I’m not going to help you crazies destroy my room. I’ll just be over here, being a normal human being.”

Callum only received the noises of chaos behind him as he shook his head again, pulling up music to play through YouTube and opening up his email. It was like having three hyperactive children to take care of. Was this what being a single father felt like? God forbid he ever grew up to have actual children in the future. His friends were certainly making sure of that now.

“Get him!”

And just like that, Callum felt his chair suddenly being pulled backwards, toppling over and landing on the ground. Thankfully, his entire bedroom floor had been covered with blankets and other soft objects the three had found lying around, so his impact wasn’t as bad as he originally expected it to be. He could still feel the hard rigidness of the floor through all of the cushioning, though.

And then just as suddenly, the three hyperactive children- as he now called them- completely dog-piled him. Ezran was sprawled sideways across Callum’s stomach, while Claudia sat her butt down on his legs, and Rayla was more or less in between them. He was now completely stuck to the floor against his wishes. This was exactly how having children was like. God save his soul.

“You guys can’t seriously think we’re going to sleep in a position like this. None of us have even gotten ready for bed anyways!”

Still, Callum supposed it could’ve been worse. Here he was with his closest friends and brother, having a good time, even though good was debatable by his standards. But overall, it was just the type of thing he always liked to experience. Being able to live and act like normal teenagers and kids, in a world that would ask so much more of them without so much as a thank you in return. He could feel a content smile start to grow on his face as he was freed from his body prison. Ezran specifically got up to raid Callum’s closet for board games, while the girls quickly returned his computer chair to an upright position.

Yes, this was always going to be a chaotic mess. But he was with his people. No matter what fluctuations appeared in their relationships, he couldn’t be more happy to have what he had now. 

They all really were better together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, looking at what comes next: right so we have chapter 15 for the rayllum stans and then-  
> oh. oh everyone is going to be habsolutely hurious at me for the next few chapters
> 
> Also I wanna take the time to thank the readers who leave comments on my updates, it really does help me believe that there are active people who read/like my work, everything else is just self-doubt. I know this AU will never be as popular as some of the other AU fics in the fandom and that's okay, but it does me wonders to have readers engaging ;w;
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> (Side note I post stuff about SOS on my Tumblr that I don't talk about on here, so if you want some extra info/lore you should look there :D)


	16. Screamer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soren wasn’t stupid.
> 
> Okay maybe he was a little stupid, but he wasn’t this stupid. Even he could tell that something was incredibly wrong with the atmosphere in his house. In fact, he could go on to say the whole day was off. Normally he wouldn’t give it too much thought, because all of the discomfort that he’d get prickling in his skin was just the fact that Aaravos was in his house. But there was something different about it now, something much darker and much more worrying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You all knew it was coming. The storm. You actually thought this story would be happy. Lmao. You're in my hands now and I plan to make you experience a roller coaster of shite
> 
> Anyways it took me 15 chapters before this to finally pull Soren out of the void and your favorite himbo is full of surprises
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

Soren wasn’t stupid.

Okay maybe he was a little stupid, but he wasn’t _this_ stupid. Even he could tell that something was incredibly wrong with the atmosphere in his house. In fact, he could go on to say the whole day was off. Normally he wouldn’t give it too much thought, because all of the discomfort that he’d get prickling in his skin was just the fact that Aaravos was in his house. But there was something different about it now, something much darker and much more worrying.

Like Callum, Soren himself had an extra power that housed itself in his soul. Unlike Callum, he’d never talked about it, or even cared about it for that matter. Soren has seen the type of strain such a power can give to a human, and it scared him. So he’d spent many years acting like it didn’t exist, even to himself. He’d even considered talking publicly about his power as a young child, a few months before Callum and Ezran appeared in his life. It was more or less put on the back burner as the prospect of making new friends took the main stage, and then the idea completely vanished after time spent with a distressed young Callum.

Soren could pretend that he was normal all he wanted, but his mind knew better. He could hear the difference between normal and gifted, and he always had been able to. When he was younger, it just took him a bit longer to make the realization that what he could do wasn’t normal. And in his fear of what admitting to it could bring, he buried it away. Acted like he couldn’t hear what he did. Acted aloof and unaware all the time. But he was more aware of the world than anyone could have imagined. He knows the difference between good and evil, and it’s all because of his ability to hear.

Soren could hear the emotions of souls.

The concept of a soul song was a simple, widely-accepted phenomenon that no one in this modern world seemed to deeply question. A communication directly from the soul of the body that human ears interpreted as song, and it was thought as nothing more. A communication of the overall sum of the body’s parts- its mind, its heart, its personality. That’s what a soul song was, unique in itself that no two would be exactly alike. Well, in cases of twins it was a different story, but that wasn’t the point. That was the limit of what could be heard on a normal scale. But not for Soren. Perhaps the soul of a body was housed in that body's brain- either way the two seemed to be very similar in the concept of his Soul Empathy.

Souls weren’t projecting their songs- far from it. The souls themselves were singing. They sang the sum of their parts, their thoughts, their emotions. Usually all at the same time, where the sounds would overlap into nothing but noise. It seemed that the normal range of human hearing could hear only the sum of the parts. Soren, however, could hear both the sum and the emotions. He supposed it was somewhat the same as Callum’s power in that regard- being able to hear another’s soul even past the mental boundaries everyone put up. But say, if someone were to allow Soren to listen to the sum of their parts, he’d also hear the emotions at the same time, because no one put up boundaries for that type of frequency. Mainly because no one knew it was there.

But Soren had never heard anything like _this._

This… this wasn’t normal. A song of emotions this strong and this loud, it shouldn’t be possible. Not for a single soul to be singing. So what, exactly, was going on here? It was fragmented, broken, _crying._ Multiple soul voices all singing the same song on the same wavelength, a feat that shouldn’t be possible in any situation. Or at least, any situation he’d ever heard of. These souls were crying, wherever they were, and whatever they were crying about had changed them. This was different, felt different, to what a normal soul could sound like. It was almost like the souls themselves were fragmented, but then how were they still alive?

And where were they, then, considering they had to be somewhere that could hold them all together?

Soren knew that his father was downstairs with that Aaravos man. It was a bit surprising, considering Viren had been going over to Aaravos’s place for the past few weeks instead. So why were they meeting here now? Both he and Claudia didn’t like the man- Soren had heard the discomfort coming from Claudia the last time he was around. Where was his sister, anyway? Somewhere safe, hopefully.

The crying was coming from downstairs. This didn’t make any sense to him. He’d never heard this before and he knew what his father’s emotions usually sounded like. He supposed, however, that he couldn’t rule out the sound of Aaravos’s.

“What are you?” Soren muttered to himself as he snuck out of his room and towards the stairs.

He’d never meddled in the affairs of the two men before, mainly because he really didn’t have a reason to. He didn’t care about what they wanted to do. He assumed it was some random grown-up stuff. Even though he was technically a grown-up himself, he couldn’t hope to understand the goals of middle-aged men.

“We have to act now, Viren. My defiers are at their most comfortable, and most unsuspecting. They are unprepared, weak. That idiot boy is probably with them, as well as your daughter. They’re helping the enemy, and they’re getting in the way of our plans. Are you going to stand here and defy me as well?”

“No, of course not, Aaravos.” Cam his father’s hurried reply. “I just think, maybe, that it’s too soon? You’ve lost all of your other supporters after you left Silvergrove, we don’t have nearly as much man power here as you did before. What if we fail?”

The crying seemed to swell again suddenly, assaulting Soren’s ears with tremendous volume. How many soul remnants were doing this? Two, three? Maybe even more than that? What the hell had this man done? How could his body house multiple souls, even if the majority weren’t whole?

It was odd, too. Despite humans normally being unable to hear this type of sound from a soul, their despairing seemed like a desperate attempt to call for attention. Well, even if they would never know it, they’d gotten the attention they’d wanted. If only Soren could figure out what exactly they were calling attention to…

“Are you doubting my power?” Aaravos growled lowly. “Need I remind you of what I can do? Shall I bring out the voices of those souls who stood in my way? Would you want to see the apparitions of their dulled faces? Their fragments are a reminder to you and every other powerless moron on this planet that I can and _will_ win, assimilating you or not.”

_No. No he can’t… he can’t be serious. Those fragments…_ Soren had to bite his lip, hard, to keep himself from gasping or letting out a horrified cry. This man had the power to assimilate other peoples’ souls? That’s where the crying was coming from, it was coming from him. He wasn’t sure what was worse- the fact that he could do such a thing, or the fact that the assimilation doesn’t completely kill the soul, and there’s fragments left within him that live the rest of their life in pieces. And he knew about them too! How heartless could a man be?

“Your daughter and her friend across the street are issues and I need to deal with them. There’s no changing a child’s mind these days, and nothing you or I could say would convince them not to fight to protect that orphan brat. And if you want any part in my plans after this day, you will not shed your loyalty to me. Do you understand?”

_Refuse! Refuse, dad, how could you let him talk about Claudia like she’s prey?! REFUSE!_

“Aaravos… you have to understand, this is my daughter. Her and my son are all I have left of my family, and you want to kill her, how can you expect me to be okay with that?” Viren demanded angrily. “Callum I don’t give a damn about, he’s not my kid. But my daughter isn’t just some piece on the chess board you can claim!”

The crying swelled up again once more, almost as a warning. Though Soren wasn’t paying too much attention- his father’s declaration gave him mixed feelings. Good, where he was defying Aaravos about killing Claudia- _But how could Viren still be this calm about such a proposal? Why wasn’t he wiping the floor with this man right now?_ And his comment about Callum… how could he say that? Didn’t his father know how close he and Claudia were? It would destroy her if Callum died, and Soren didn’t want to see her go through such a thing. Not to mention that this was still a living person, with just as much right to survive as everyone else, and Viren was offering him up like it was nothing!

“You know, as much as you are defying me still, I can’t help but be impressed. You would stand against certain death to protect the ones most important to you, and I would like to salvage such a mentality.” Aaravos’s smooth voice returned, with only just a hint of malice. “I think you’re still useful to me.”

“I don’t want to be useful to you if you still intend to kill my daughter!” Viren snapped. “You might have terrifying power, Aaravos, but you severely underestimate the will of other humans! There will always be someone out there that can stop you, even if I can’t. This isn’t just about power and control, is it? You’re just playing with us! You think people without powers are powerless, and you find us amusing!”

The fragments were screaming louder than ever.

“Let me get one thing clear, Viren.” Aaravos spoke slowly. “Your kind, people without powers, _are_ powerless. You know not how to fight, bearing fists or weapons, and you most certainly hold no political power. You are a citizen, which is just another way to mark you for your compliance. I will have this world under my boot in mere months if I can get things to go exactly as planned, but foolish little ants like you, your daughter, her idiot friend, and the Moonshadows think that you can stop me. If anything, you just put a tiny bump in my road. This is your final warning. You either get back in line and prove to me that your loyalty isn't dying, or I will find better use for you.”

“N-now, Aaravos, let’s not get ridiculous.” Viren’s voice shook slightly as he realized the position he was in. “Like I said before, you cannot expect me to just let you kill my daughter. Can’t we just find a way to take care of the Moonshadows without putting her in harm’s way?”

“You are right.”

“W-what?”

“I cannot expect you to comply with my plans like this. I need you and your mindset in a different state. Just hold still, Viren. I will make you better.”

Before Soren knew what was going on, a bright green light shone through the house, even up to where he was listening in on the stairs. He heard his father shouting, but the fear of the unknown kept him stuck right where he was. The fragmented souls continued to cry and scream out into the air, almost hurting his ears with how loud it was, but a sudden click made him realize what they’d been trying to alert him to this whole time. But he hadn’t figured it out in time.

“There we are. Now then, Viren, I am going over to your neighbor’s and putting an end to their little Moonshadow parade once and for all. I will not spare your daughter, because she’s one of them, and I will not have people who would be prone to defy me in my way. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, my lord.” His father’s voice spoke- raspy, slurred, broken. Different. Corroded, almost.

Soren had been able to hear outrage and stubbornness cry out from his father’s soul before then- now all he heard was a strange calmness and compliance. But it wasn’t just that, either. The tone and pitch of his father’s soul was specific and never wavered, but now it was different. Deeper, slower, corrupted. Incorrect, and wrong. What had he done?

“That’s what I wanted to hear.” Aaravos spoke again, tone seemingly satisfied. “It’s a shame that you had to go against me now, I was almost keen on letting you keep your clear head even after we succeeded. You weren’t like my other followers, you had logic on your side still and yet chose to try and aid me in such an immoral quest. They all had to be fixed.”

“They were foolish to think outside of your words, my lord.”

“Ah, weren’t they? But they never got to keep their clear thoughts for long. Do you know what the most fun part about using my soul corrosion is?” He asked with a deep chuckle. “It acts almost like a mind melter. Corrodes the morality and logic like a poison and makes anyone into my impressionable, loyal little pet. No way to reverse such a thing, either. So you’re just going to be my right hand zombie from now on, how does that sound?”

“Like an honor, my lord.”

_Oh my god he just basically killed my dad. Claudia and Callum are in a group that are supposed to fend off someone like that?! They can’t do that, they’re still kids and they’ll die!_ Soren was freaking out, to say the least. How could there be anyone in the world that could stop a man with powers like that? What hope was there to win? They couldn’t. He couldn’t let them just die for this. _They had to get out of here._

Soren had a car. It was a hand-me-down type of car, an SUV that had more than four seats. Not that his family had necessarily needed a car like that, but back then Viren was thoughtful enough to consider how he’d probably have to drive himself, his two kids, and also the neighbor’s kids to places to hang out. That was before they ended up just walking to places instead of driving. Thus, Soren had inherited the car while his father had gotten a smaller one. More seating room, more space. He was going to get them out of there, willingly or not.

He quietly dashed back to his room, ransacking his closet, his sister’s closet, and their shared bathrooms for essentials. He knew he couldn’t take everything, but they needed to go. Where they would go was beyond his knowledge, but anywhere would prove to be better than there in the next hour. Claudia had a small storage of Callum’s clothes, so he didn’t have to run over to his house to get anything. Or… did he?

Soren paused briefly. He couldn’t leave Ezran behind either. His dad was more or less a lost cause now, as much as the thought stung, but Aaravos clearly knew about Callum and he must’ve known about his family. The man didn’t seem to have any problem with the prospect of killing children, and it would have to be over Soren’s own dead body if he was going to try to kill someone like Ezran. He’d have to run over and get supplies for the boy as well. He wasn’t going to leave him behind.

There was a door slam from downstairs, startling Soren. He realized then that the wailing of the soul fragments were gone- he couldn’t hear them anymore. Meaning Aaravos must have left. _Shit, shit, I don’t have enough time!_ Soren furiously fished his phone out of his pocket and sent a group text to both Callum and Claudia, praying to god they would check their phones wherever they were and get out of harm’s way before Aaravos got there. He unfortunately didn’t realize that they were only a few houses away.

_Soren [5:27pm]_

_CAL! CLAUDS! WHEREVER YOU ARE NOW, YOU HAVE TO LEAVE! AARAVOS IS COMING AND HE MEANS TO KILL! PLEASE!_

He didn’t even keep his phone out for long enough to see if they would reply- he went back to stuffing all he could into the spare suitcases he found in his and his sister’s rooms. Soren knew he had money to spend in case of a rainy day, but it wasn’t enough to live off of for too long, so he needed to take as much as he could. After some consideration, he decided not to go over to Callum’s house to save time. He wasn’t sure if Ms. Amaya was home and he wouldn’t be able to explain what he was doing to her, considering he didn’t know sign language. He could just pack extra clothes of his for Ezran- it was better the clothes were too big than too small. It would have to do.

He began dragging the filled suitcases down the stairs and to his car outside when a voice from the kitchen stopped him.

“Soren? What on Earth are you doing, son?” His father.

Soren cringed, turning to face him. He barely managed to keep his composure when he caught sight of Viren- his father had turned ashed, with dark marks or scars on his face and everywhere else. His eyes seemed unnaturally dark and cold, but still somehow focused on him. Soren forced a casual grin.

“Oh! I heard about a body building type of convention being held in the next city over, so I decided I was going to go! I’d love to meet up with other bros and show off our gains, you know?” Soren said, hoping it sounded stupid enough to be believable from his mouth.

Viren gave him a sort of weird look, but seemed to buy it. “Alright, I guess that’s your decision. You’re an adult and you have your own car, so I don’t see a real reason to stop you. Just.. try not to hurt yourself lugging all of that stuff to your car. I’m assuming you have your workout equipment in those suitcases.”

“Yup!” Soren replied a little too quickly. “I will dad, thank you! I’ll see you in a day or two!”

_Yeah, right._ With the mini-crisis averted, Soren continued out to his car and shoved the suitcases in the trunk. With everything more or less ready to go, he pulled his phone out again to hopefully see a response or even a read on his text. But before he could even get there, something in his peripherals caught his eye. His heart sank.

_Oh no._

* * *

  
  


“Wow, Callum, you’re certainly getting better and better by the day.” Ethari praised, slightly out of breath.

As the days passed, Callum had been more and more able to control and polish his weaponization of his Soul Projection. He was able to focus his sound into compact waves or bursts that radiated out from his body as the focal point. He could control the direction, speed, and volume. Concentrated blasts of sound that could physically do damage if he made it powerful enough.

“Thank you, Ethari.” Callum replied genuinely, tilting his head forward.

Claudia had been training in combat with Rayla again, while Zym and Ezran played in the corner of the basement. Against all odds, Ezran was there with them. He wasn’t originally supposed to be anywhere near the Moonshadow group, but he wouldn’t stop asking Runaan questions during school, so he was eventually allowed for today. Plus, it gave Zym a person to play with while everyone else did what they needed to do.

“Hey Callum, I’ve never heard you use that specific song before, is it new?” Rayla asked from the other side of the room, dodging one of Claudia’s rather half-assed kicks.

Callum nodded. “I actually made it myself. I was debating on doing such a thing for a few days, since I would find myself wasting time searching for a song to actually use to attack. So now I just have this one to use, and I can even pretend it’s like my own soul song, even though it’s artificially made.”

“Really! What did you call it?”

“Oh, that. I was honestly struggling to learn how to use the program when I named the file, so it ended up being called ‘[ Save My Soul ](https://soundcloud.com/user-854527998/save-my-soul)’. A bit ironic, I think. But it works when I need it, so the name doesn’t really mean anything.”

Rayla nodded in acknowledgement. “Well, joke title or not, I like it.”

And just like that, the training session would have continued on its way normally. The last few weeks of these sessions had gone exceptionally well for both Callum and Claudia, and if you asked them, they couldn’t be happier with the progress they’ve been making. But… all good things must come to an end.

“Hey, Callum?” Ezran pipped up suddenly, holding up his brother’s phone. “You have a text from Soren, and he seems really freaked out…”

And almost at the same time, Ethari spoke up in concern.

“It might just be me, but… do any of you kids smell something burning?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sorry for any of this especially not for the cliff hanger. Also PLEASE PLEASE LISTEN TO THE SONG COUNTERPART FOR THIS CHAPTER IT'S SO IMPORTANT
> 
> So I gave you guys a lot more information on the actual mechanics of the Soul Song AU idea, which was just me pulling shit out of my ass because this is my own canon I have to make and nothing I ever say makes any sense to me. Aaravos needs to be fuckin s t o p p e d
> 
> Once again, thank you to my reader who leave comments! I know I almost never reply to them mainly because I just either don't know what to say or my anxiety gets the better of me, but please do know I do read them and appreciate them all immensely ;w;
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> (Side note I post stuff about SOS on my Tumblr that I don't talk about on here, so if you want some extra info/lore you should look there :D)


	17. Cog In The Machine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethari finished getting everyone else to evacuate into the backyard, where they stood waiting for Runaan to come out with Rayla. Everyone seemed to be rather visibly shaken in one way or another, but Callum was feeling something else. Something wasn’t right. What had even caused this fire in the first place? There was no storm, therefore no lightning strike that could’ve hit the house, and as far as he knew the wiring of the house wasn’t faulty. This had to be foul play, right? But that meant…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Imagine me leaving yall on a cliffhanger for a few days haha what
> 
> This fresh hell is dedicated to the lads and lassies of the Rayllum server I joined, love yall
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

“Does anyone else smell something burning?”

And just like that, the house’s fire alarms started blaring. The timing would’ve been comical if the situation wasn’t so jarring. There were six of them down there in the basement, and only one exit. They all just stood about staring at each other for a moment, before Runaan came furiously stomping down the stairs and looking at them with wild eyes.

“What’s wrong with you all?! We have to leave, now!” He shouted, startling everyone out of their group trance.

“Alright, kids first! Everyone up the stairs!” Ethari barked, shooing Callum towards the exit.

The group wasted no more time in escaping the dead end that was the basement, coming up to the first floor and seeing an already sizable fire blocking the front exit. The golden glow of the sunset outside paled in comparison to the orange blaze that was only getting bigger and stronger.

“Out the back!” Runaan ordered, both him and Ethari now directing the kids to the back porch exit.

It was then that Rayla suddenly stopped, and started fighting against the pushes of her parents.

“Rayla, what in god’s name are you doing?! We can’t be playing games right now!” Runaan growled.

“I need to get them before they burn!” Rayla said, almost cryptically, before suddenly dashing to the staircase that went up to the second floor, disappearing from view.

“Oh my god.” Runaan exclaimed with narrowed eyes. “Alright, everyone else out! I’ll go get her, just give me a few seconds.”

Ethari finished getting everyone else to evacuate into the backyard, where they stood waiting for Runaan to come out with Rayla. Everyone seemed to be rather visibly shaken in one way or another, but Callum was feeling something else. Something wasn’t right. What had even caused this fire in the first place? There was no storm, therefore no lightning strike that could’ve hit the house, and as far as he knew the wiring of the house wasn’t faulty. This had to be foul play, right? But that meant…

Also immediately, Callum’s soul orb shattered into active mode and swirled furiously around his body without him even telling it to do so. The hair on the back of his neck was standing up, and his little group of friends looked at him with confusion and worry.

_I have to know._

Callum never liked doing what he was about to do, but he had to know before something else went off the rails. He quickly dived into his own mind, ripping his imagined door lock off of the door to his Soul Perception. And as soon as he did, his worst fears came to light. He heard the songs of his group, soft and calming, but beyond the backyard and hidden in the treeline of the Midnight Forest came the radiating song of Aaravos.

“Everyone has to leave. Now.” Callum spit out suddenly, just as Runaan and Rayla were coming out of the house to join the rest of them.

Callum could hear exactly where Aaravos was, hiding behind a tree. He stared unwavering at the exact tree, hoping that the man knew his cover had been blown. However, his group didn’t budge, confused on what Callum was going on about.

“Callum?” Rayla prodded. “Your orb is freaking out… what’s going on?”

“Everyone run! NOW!” Callum screamed again, desperately trying to get them to listen before…

“Oh, I don’t think you and your little friends are going anywhere, Callum.”

_Fuck._

Aaravos emerged from the treeline like the creep he was, his face still holding his trademark malicious smile. He had a gas can in his hand that he casually threw to the side as he stalked closer. Runaan, Ethari, and Callum all moved at the same time, making their way to the front of the group and forming a small protective wall between him and the rest of them. Aaravos laughed at this.

“Oh young Callum, why do you hang around these people? We have so much more in common than you think we do. Why not join my side and apprentice under me instead? I have so much I could teach you, if my theories are correct, of course. I’m certainly a better mentor than those two fools.”

“Have you nothing better to do than prey on innocent children, Aaravos?” Runaan snarled, briefly attempting to push Callum behind him.

Callum, on the other hand, was not having this. He bluntly pushed off Runaan’s attempts and took a few steps forward to Aaravos, his soul energy speeding around his body as his composed song started to play in the surrounding area.

“Did you get tired of the sting of your defeat last time we clashed? I have bad news for you, you prick, but you’re going to lose again!” Callum snarled, outstretching his hand and pointing a finger, from which a wave of weaponized sound shot from.

“Last time?! Callum, what did you do?!”

Aaravos dodged rather lazily, shaking his head. “Oh my, you didn’t even tell your friends? Why would you keep such an encounter a secret? You beat me last time, didn’t you? What possibly made you refrain from telling your peers of your victory?”

Callum faltered slightly, feeling some disappointed and hurt stares at his back. He hadn’t meant it to be a secret forever, he was considering the idea of telling someone, but then it just slipped his mind. He’d have to apologize and explain this later.

“What kept you silent, my boy? Were you scared? Scared that you’d already proven your powers to be strong enough to send me running? Scared that this implication would scare your precious friends, and worry the adults of the Moonshadows? Perhaps, you were scared of yourself this whole time?”

“Shut up!”

“This is the prime difference between us, Callum. We are both so incredibly powerful, but while you cower in fear about what this means for who you are, I don’t cower in the face of my strength. My corrosion and assimilation, these are things I can use for the betterment of my life, and my survival. I only seek to take the opportunities that sit so close to my reach, but you are afraid. That fear of yours will never allow you to fully reach the potential you have.”

Callum faltered even more. “What… what are you talking about?! How can I do any more damage than this?”  
  


Aaravos tutted. “How naive. Your friend’s father told me more about you, you know. How you don’t have a soul song, and such a thing has never been heard of before. You are a fascinating mystery, and in the weeks since we last met, I’ve been thinking a lot about just what you are. The fact that you lack a soul song, and this strength you have, do you really think they aren’t connected? Do you really think you’re just that unlucky and that lucky at the same time? I can teach you so much more than you think. My offer to you will stand always, even if you still try to kill me.”

Callum felt his arm shaking. Actually, his whole body might have been shaking at that point. What was Aaravos talking about? What did he mean by he’d been thinking about _what_ he was? Callum thought he knew who he was at this point, but Aaravos’s words just single handedly derailed all of that personal growth. Being treated like a science experiment was so demeaning. 

“Oh, but look at us, running our mouths. I believe your precious Moonshadow house is burning down by the second, and you clearly know what I’m here for. Have I thrown off your focus this much? Think fast!”

Before anyone knew what was happening, a green corrosive shot fired out from Aaravos’s outstretched hand. The world seemed to slow again, Callum desperately scrambling to charge and fire off his own shot to combat the offending one while Ethari and Runaan almost violently dragged everyone else out of the way. Callum barely managed to nullify the corrosion blast in time before it hit him straight in the chest.

“Claudia, Zym, Rayla, Ezran! Get out of here, now! Run! I don’t know where you’d go but you can’t stay here!” Callum hollered to the group behind him, taking up a defensive stance as Aaravos seemed to be readying another corrosion shot. “Ethari, Runaan, you should go too! Protect Rayla, I’ve fought Aaravos alone once before, I can do it again!”

The younger ones of the group wasted no time arguing against Callum’s order, but Ethari and Runaan didn’t budge.

“You expect us to leave you alone against this man? Absolutely not!” Runaan replied with an almost offended tone.

“You may be able to handle yourself, but as adults we can’t just turn tail and run and leave a burden like this to you.” Ethari added. “Go with the others. You can protect Rayla better than we can.”

“But… I know what I can do! I can keep you all safe this way!” Callum argued desperately.

Callum was very far from a moron. Having fought Aaravos himself now, there was no way he expected either of them to survive without him there. They would have to be able to flawlessly dodge all of Aaravos’s shots without his ability to combat and nullify them. He couldn’t just leave them either! He had the best chance of surviving, and he couldn’t bear the thought of Rayla learning that she’d lost another set of parents if he had something to say about it.

“Irrelevant! Just go, Callum!” Runaan snarled, drawing his concealed blades as his husband did the same.

“Would you two truly be so rude to shoo away my only interesting opponent? You’re wasting my time. I want the girl, or either another fight with Callum, just to put my theories to the test some more. Otherwise, I have no business entertaining the two of you.” Aaravos drawled.

“GO, CALLUM!”

Callum flinched, biting his lip in hesitation, before slowly starting to back away with his sound shot still aimed at the enemy. When he felt he’d made it far enough away from the main area of the backyard, he turned around and ran full sprint to the street. For a moment, he was worried that he would have no way of finding the others, since they’d had a massive head start on running away before him. But to his confusion, he saw them just standing around in the street near Claudia’s house, and he saw Soren frantically packing things into his car.

“What the hell, you guys! When we said run we didn’t mean run about thirty feet and then loiter in the street!” Callum shouted incredulously as he ran over to them.

“What, and just leave you behind? We couldn’t just do that, Callum!” Claudia argued back.

“Can you two argue later when we’re all in the car? We have to get out of here before your little pal Aaravos comes catching up! Or dad could come out and see you!” Soren snapped.

Callum shot him an incredulous look. “Hold on. So Viren is completely on Aaravos’s side now?”

“Dammit, Callum, he’s basically dead right now! Aaravos did some weird soul corrod-y thing to him and he’s practically a walking corpse loyal only to him! He can’t be trusted anymore!” Soren yelled back, the stress clearly getting to him.

Callum stopped dead, blinking. “I- I’m so sorry.”

“Condolences later, can everyone just get in the damn car! Claudia and I up front, Callum and Rayla in the middle, Ezran and- I’m sorry other kid I don’t know your name right now- in the back! Let’s move!”

“Callum?” Rayla asked worriedly. “Where’s Runaan and Ethari?”

Callum sighed heavily. “Fighting Aaravos by themselves. They didn’t want me to stay and help them, even though I tried arguing. They wanted me to protect you.”

Rayla stared back at her burning house with panicked eyes, and Callum grabbed a hold of her wrist before she got any crazy ideas.

“You can’t go back there, Rayla, it’s too dangerous. They’ll be fine. They’re strong and they're brave, are they not? I believe in them.”

Callum wouldn’t admit that he was completely lying through his teeth. He could only hope to god that they actually made it out alive. However, Rayla seemed to believe his words, nodding solemnly and climbing into Soren’s car. Callum climbed in after her, shutting the door as everyone was inside now. Soren wasted no time reversing off of his driveway and peeling it down the street, trying to get away as fast as possible. The faster they left, the more distance they put in between themselves and Aaravos. They just hoped they could travel far enough before Aaravos tried coming after their trail- if he was even fast enough to see it.

“Um, Soren? Where are we even going?” Ezran asked quietly from his backseat.

“I’m going to be real with you Ezran, I have no idea where we can go. I didn’t get to think that far. My main priority was getting us all away from the danger.” He paused. “I overheard Aaravos and dad talking earlier, before Aaravos attacked. I heard what he was capable of doing, and they were talking about you two, Callum and Clauds. Aaravos wanted to kill you both, and I got so scared, because he most definitely could with ease, and I couldn’t imagine him actually succeeding.” He admitted quietly.

“I still could have handled him myself.” Callum grumbled, clearly upset. “I couldn’t convince Runaan and Ethari of this though. I could’ve stalled him enough for everyone to escape… and at that point it didn’t seem like he wanted to fully kill me anyways. He was talking about how ‘what I am’ is a mystery, like I was some science experiment.”

“I still can’t believe you’d fought him weeks ago and didn’t tell anyone…” Rayla mumbled, her gaze fixed out the car window.

“I know. I’m sorry. But Aaravos wasn’t exactly wrong about why I was… afraid. Finding out you can somehow overpower an overpowered threat is kinda jarring.”

“Well, I’m just glad you’re still alive.” Claudia replied with a huff. “But we still need to figure out where the hell we’re going, you know.”

“I have a place.” Callum said, his expression darkening slightly. “It’s a few hours from here. It should be safe, for most of us at least. For me, on the other hand… I won’t be safe from the memories. Soren, give me your phone. I need to type in a destination to your GPS.”

* * *

The drive after that point had been mostly silent; there hadn’t even been any want to put music on. Callum remembered to calm his soul orb and re-lock his Soul Perception shortly after silence fell upon the car. But otherwise, everyone seemed to be stuck in their own heads in the aftermath of the stress. It occurred to Callum halfway through the drive that none of them had told the other Moonshadows or even his Aunt Amaya where they were going. Or what had happened, for that matter. He hoped to god that the rest of them were safe, that Runaan and Ethari escaped and managed to alert them all. But unfortunately, there wasn’t the best cell service in the rural area they’d been driving through at the time of his realization.

When they finally turned into the driveway of the house Callum had directed them to, he could already feel his blood running slightly cold. He never expected to return to his childhood home, but this was the safest place he knew of outside of where he normally lived.

“Hey, Callum? Where exactly are we?” Soren asked, parking the car.

“My old house.” Callum replied simply. “A couple of years ago, I found out that Aunt Amaya had inherited this house. Instead of selling it, she kept it, and also kept all of the living services running too. I don’t know why, as I considered it a waste of money to pay for water, plumbing, electricity, and all of that stuff for a house that would probably never get used again. I now think that she just might have never had the strength to let it go.”

“This is our old house?” Ezran asked.

Right. When both of their parents had died in such close proximity, Callum had been around five or six. Ezran was only around a year old. It wasn’t surprising that he didn’t remember anything of their old home.

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure if we go inside, we’ll find that most of the furniture and appliances are still there. We didn’t really take a lot of stuff when we went to go live with Aunt Amaya. My old twin bed should still be there, along with… mom and Harrow-dad’s- old master bed. So at least we have a few options of where to sleep.”

Callum opened the car door, wasting no time in walking to the front door of the house, where he moved a loose brick in the wall and retrieved the house keys. “Amaya said she always left a spare pair of keys. Now that I think about it, it wouldn’t surprise me if she had used this place as a more or less free place to stay when she traveled for her job. Her work would sometimes bring her out here to Duren anyway.”

“Oh my.” Came an unfamiliar voice. “Could it be? Callum, little Callum, back in this part of the continent?”

Callum whirled around in shock, finding an old lady standing at the edge of the driveway. “Um… who are you? And how do you know me?”

The woman scoffed. “Oh, right, how silly of me. You wouldn’t recognize me like this, I’m too old!” She twirled once, a flash of light engulfing her momentarily before she suddenly looked younger, and healthier at that. “Here we go, this should be around what I looked like when you still lived here. Recognize me now?”

Callum squinted, racking his brain for answers. “Wait… Miss Lujanne?”

Lujanne nodded and clapped excitedly. “You do remember me! Oh, that’s wonderful! I thought I would have to bring up other reminders…”

“Wait a second, I know you!” Rayla suddenly exclaimed, exiting the car to join Callum. “Lujanne, you’re an old member of the Moonshadows! Runaan and Ethari would talk about you sometimes!”

Lujanne seemed surprised to see Rayla tagging along. Her smile dropped into one of concern. “Oh dear, if you’re out here without them, then I can only fear what might have happened. Tell me, children, what brought you so far away from Katolis?”

“We can talk about that in a bit. We need to get our things sorted right now.” Callum replied bluntly, hefting the trunk of the car open and beginning to gather supplies into his arms.

Soren and the rest exited the car, now knowing that the stranger that suddenly appeared on the driveway wasn’t a threat. She seemed a bit stunned about the fact that any of them were there.

“Hey, how did you know we came from Katolis, anyways? Last I heard is that you left the group when we were still in the Silvergrove.” Rayla asked.

“Just because I ‘left’ the group doesn’t mean I wasn’t in the loop about what was going on.” Lujanne replied matter-of-factly. “Actually, I never technically left. I live out here to act as a safe house, away from the danger. A place for the Moonshadows to come if they need to hide. Didn’t your dads tell you this? There is no need to live in this old house, I have room and food for you all if you need.”

“Oh.”

Callum sighed. “I guess that means we can split up then. Half of us can go with Miss Lujanne, and the other half will stay in this house. As much as the fact I’m back here makes me strangely uncomfortable, I want to at least try to stay in the house I first lived in.”

“That’s not a problem, young Callum.” Lujanne soothed warmly. “Anything I can do to take the load off strange arrangements. I’ll still come over later to bring you and whoever else decides to stay with you some food. Just let me know and I’ll help.”

“Thank you, Miss Lujanne.” Callum replied. “Right then… three and three should be good. I’m staying in my house, does anyone have a preference on where they stay?”

Almost immediately, Zym launched from his spot next to Ezran to wrap himself around Callum. He was a little surprised that the normally silent boy was so eager to stay with him, but it cheered him up just a bit.

“Would you mind me staying with you as well?” Rayla asked almost shyly. “My dads did task you with protecting me, after all.”

“Wow, we didn’t even get a choice.” Claudia deadpanned with a chuckle. “I guess Soren, Ezran, and I will be staying with your neighbor then. I’m guessing we’ll regroup later?”

“Yeah. We will, I promise.” Callum said with a nod.

Ezran complained a little about not being able to stay with his own brother, but the trio went across the street with Lujanne after taking some of the supplies. Callum, Rayla, and Zym went inside their own house and started getting everything situated. Despite the fact that they were more or less safe now, a heavy air hung in the atmosphere between all of them. Callum started putting most of the stuff in his old parents’ room.

“Um… Zym can sleep in my old twin bed. Rayla, I guess you can have this big bed, and I can go sleep on the couch in the other room or something. Also, since Soren didn’t have a lot of time to gather clothes, you two will probably have to start wearing some of my stuff. I’m not looking forward to having to do laundry every other day, but this is what we have to work with.”

Zym seemed satisfied with this arrangement, but Rayla frowned. “I can’t make you sleep on the couch of your own house, that’s rude.”

“Rayla-”

“I’m serious! We’re going to talk about these arrangements later.” She interrupted, putting her foot down.

Despite everything, Callum found a small smile coming to his face at her antics. He was so glad Rayla was safe, along with the rest of his friends. “Sure thing.”

He could only hope the same of Runaan and Ethari.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So updates will be slower for about two months because my Summer Math Class TM started and I gotta actually try to pass it this time around ASDFDGFH But don't worry I'm not abandoning this
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> (Side note I post stuff about SOS on my Tumblr that I don't talk about on here, so if you want some extra info/lore you should look there :D)


	18. crash

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “...and that’s pretty much the whole story.” Callum finished with a final breath, silently congratulating himself on his successful retelling of the events that had led the group there. It wasn’t any less disturbing the second time around, that was for sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter... is so much worse than I thought it would be. I'm sorry in advance. Don't kill me pls
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

“...and that’s pretty much the whole story.” Callum finished with a final breath, silently congratulating himself on his successful retelling of the events that had led the group there. It wasn’t any less disturbing the second time around, that was for sure.

Lujanne nodded solemnly. “I see… Ethari and Runaan gave themselves up to buy you all time. Oh dear…”

Rayla had gotten progressively more nervous the closer Callum had gotten to telling the part of how they’d left the two behind, and Callum could see how Lujanne’s words had made her even worse. He hissed slightly under his breath, reaching softly for her hand under the table and shaking his head at the other woman.

“They’re fine. I believe in them. Ethari was the one training me and I expect Runaan was just as good, if not better, than him.”

“But Callum…” Lujanne caught a glare from said boy, as if to say  _ talk about something else.  _ Luckily, she understood the silent warning and backtracked. “Nevermind. But I must say, even when you were still a small child, I had a feeling there was something special about you. You were different, but a good different. Like me!”

Callum straightened a little. “Oh yeah, you changed your appearance right in front of us. What would you call that soul power, anyway?”

Lujanne grinned almost wickedly. “Oh, it’s not only my appearance I can change. I have what I coined as Soul Illusion! Anything you want, I can make it reality. But not forever, of course. Currently if you touch whatever big illusion I cast, it will fade away, but I’m trying to work on an illusion that’s big and can be touched and will stay in activity as well as be able to be felt. I might be old, but I certainly have enough power left in me.”

“Sounds like a really good asset.” Claudia commented. “Especially when you’re the safe-house. Could you like, make the house invisible if you needed to? Honestly, I don’t know why you aren’t on the offensive lines with deception like that. Besides your age, of course.”

Lujanne grimaced. “Having a soul power is a double-edged sword, young lady. Yes, I could possibly help defeat Aaravos with a power like mine, but think of the terrible repercussions if I were to fall on the battlefield to that monster? He doesn’t just take souls, he also can gain the powers those souls had in life. That’s why he’s so after Rayla. Her soul, overflowing with energy, no one knows how it could boost Aaravos’s powers. The last thing he needs is access to my illusions.”

Claudia nodded silently, satisfied with the explanation.

“If I’m being honest, no one with soul powers should be actively trying to fight Aaravos. It’s too dangerous. One slip up and he could be gaining more power with a single shot. Especially with you, young Callum.” Lujanne continued, surprising the group.

“What? Me? Why? I fail to see why I would be a bigger target than Rayla.” He asked, confused.

Lujanne studied him carefully. “You mentioned that you don’t have a soul song, correct? I’ve never heard of such a thing, but if I have any theories on how souls work, having no soul song should mean a soul is dead. But here you are, very much alive, thriving every day. But there’s still nothing deep within you. It makes no sense.”

“He’s not soulless either.” Soren piped up suddenly, commanding the attention of the group. “I never really talked about my soul power to anyone, but my Soul Empathy lets me hear the emotions of a soul. Whenever someone is feeling something, I can hear it in the musical language a soul speaks. Callum’s soul is definitely there, and it can sing.”

Callum gawked. “Soren, that’s… really cool. So there’s like… different frequencies that souls talk on or something?”

Soren shrugged. “I’ve never tried thinking about it too hard. I mostly tried to pretend it didn’t exist. I guess you could call it that. But the point is, I’ve heard your soul on the emotional level before. It’s definitely there, but it’s just strangely silent on the personality end.”

Lujanne tapped a finger to her chin. “How very curious… souls are still a widely unknown concept in this world, there could be very reasonable explanations for this. But I don’t think we’ll ever be able to know for sure. You certainly are an unusual one, Callum.”

Callum felt Rayla squeeze his hand back, most likely as an attempt to calm him. On any other day, Callum would probably find that his feelings would go awry with a statement like that regarding himself, but this time he was more numb than anything. He was most likely still trying to come to terms with today’s events in his unconscious mind, and all of the talk about different soul powers was commanding his interest more than an offhand comment. Still, he cast Rayla a quick glance, hoping she could see the gratitude in his eyes.

“I still think the idea of souls speaking in music is pretty cool. God, there really is so much about souls that we don’t know, and they’re a part of us all. There could be so much wonder and beauty, and then we have people like Aaravos taking that mysticality and souring it. I just wish we could have nice things sometimes.” Callum grumbled.

“Such is life, young one.” Lujanne said solemnly as she stood up from the table. “Don’t worry about helping me clean up the dinner plates, they were actually illusions all along. No mess! Isn’t it wonderful?”

The group gawked all together as the empty plates in front of them faded into dust and then into nothing. Those plates had felt real! Lujanne really had a handle on real-feeling small illusions. That could be really scary in the right situation.

“I like this lady!” Soren exclaimed with a grin. “Despite the things that brought us all here, she seems pretty fun!”

“Well, I suppose it’s good that one thing in the aftermath was positive.” Callum replied with an amused smile, digging his phone out from his pocket and checking the time. “Well, do you think you three will be alright if Zym, Rayla, and I head back to our place? There’s still a few things I want to do around the house.”

Claudia and Soren nodded, while Ezran pouted. “I still find it ridiculous that I got voted out of our old house. But whatever! I’ll see you tomorrow Callum!”

Callum nodded, letting go of Rayla’s hand and making his way over to his brother, who he hugged tightly. “I love you, Ez.”

“I love you too! Now go get yourself all comfy in the house, we have stuff to do tomorrow!”

* * *

“Did you really have things you wanted to do around the house, or did you just want to leave?” Rayla asked curiously as soon as the three of them entered through the front door.

“The latter, if I’m being honest.” Callum admitted. “I just have a lot to think about and I think better when there’s less people around. And… I’m worried. About everyone we left behind. Runaan, Ethari, Aunt Amaya, Janai… they knew Lujanne was here, but they didn’t show up after us at any point. It’s just… concerning.”

Rayla frowned deeply. “You’re right, actually. Maybe your aunt didn’t know Lujanne was here, but everyone else did. I don’t think my dads would have left her out in the open, though.”

Callum sighed, pulling his phone out again. “I’m gonna send a text to Aunt Amaya. I should’ve done so hours ago, but last time I checked in the car I had no service. No excuse now.”

Rayla nodded, pulling her own phone out. “I haven’t even thought of that with everything we’ve been through today… I should send a text to Ethari and Runaan too. They must be so worried…”

It was at that point Callum’s phone buzzed with a text. He hoped for a second that it was his aunt, but his mood dropped when he saw it was a text from Claudia- and she was not bearing good news.

_ Claudia [9:42pm] _

_ Shit, Callum. Turn on your T.V. and go to the news. It’s not good at all. Maybe have Rayla leave the room… _

“Oh! You got a text, who’s it...from…” Rayla had started, moving to read the text of his shoulder.

Silence fell between them. Zym had already bounded off to his temporary room, mostly oblivious of the true danger the group was in. Callum knew he wouldn’t have to worry about shielding him, but Rayla on the other hand… if it was on the news, and if it was bad as Claudia was insinuating, the only thing Callum could think of was  _ someone was dead and it was his fault. _

“Rayla…?” Callum tried slowly.

“Turn on the news.” Rayla replied, her voice as cold as ice.

Callum had never heard this tone from her before. “But-”

“TURN IT ON!”

Callum flinched at the loud outburst, but moved quickly to grab the T.V. remote left on the side table next to the couch. He turned it on without another word, flipping through the channels swiftly before he found the news channel. It was just as he suspected.

_ “Earlier today a house caught fire rather suddenly in the suburban area in Katolis City- such an event is already strange, but when concerned neighbors called the authorities, they found a horrible sight. In the backyard was a body, along with a very obvious and visible blood trail leading into the woods behind the house. Firefighters did the best they could to quell the blaze, but the property has sustained some damage. Authorities were able to identify the remains as thirty-six year old Runaan Holmes. Holmes was a married man with an adopted daughter- both of which are currently missing. Despite the blood found at the scene, no visible wounds could be found on the body. Detectives are unsure of the cause of death, but the blood trail suggests there was someone else at the scene. Authorities suspect the fire to be arson and the cause of death to involve foul play. Police are currently on the lookout to find Holmes’ husband, Ethari Gale, and their adopted daughter, Rayla Burrows-" _

The T.V. turned off suddenly, startling Callum. Rayla had grabbed the remote from the table and shut it off. Callum studied her carefully- her grip on the remote was deadly, her face was expressionless, but he knew better. In her lilac eyes he could see the pain, the anguish swirling like a violent storm. This was… bad, to say the least.

“Rayla, I’m so sorry…”

“YOU COULD’VE PREVENTED THIS!” Rayla burst out, whirling on him as tears began to leak from her eyes. “You said you’ve fought Aaravos before, alone, and won! But you let them fight for you while you ran away with us! You could’ve saved Runaan’s life if you’d just had more of a backbone to argue! But now he’s  _ gone  _ and I’ve lost ANOTHER parent!”

Callum grimaced, taking a few steps back. “Rayla, please, just listen to me-”

“NO!” She screamed, her anguish clear in the tone of her voice. Her face was turning redder by the second. “Don’t you get it?! We  _ failed  _ them! And you failed me! Ethari and Runaan said to protect me, but you should’ve known that making sure my dads would survive was the more important mission!  _ You  _ left them to die! They only found Runaan’s… b-body, god knows if Ethari’s even still alive as well!  _ THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!” _

Callum shrank further and further into himself with each poisonous word that was screamed at him. When he didn’t have a reply, Rayla decided that her rant was finished, and she stormed off towards the front door. Without another word, she left the house and walked off to god knows where. Callum deflated heavily the moment he was left alone.

“Don’t you think I know that it’s my fault, Ray?” He mumbled to the air miserably, running a hand over his face to discreetly wipe away the tears that were beginning to sting at his eyes. “I’m so sorry Rayla…”

_ Claudia [9:58pm] _

_ Just saw Rayla storming away from your house, I think she was crying. Soren said he could hear her soul crying from a mile away. I’m assuming she saw. Do we go after her? _

_ Callum [10:00pm] _

_ I don’t think it’s a good idea. She’s really upset, and I think any of us trying to comfort her right now will only make it worse. She already gave me an earful… But don’t worry about me. I just have to… process. Text me if you see her coming back. _

_ Claudia [10:01pm] _

_...Okay, I’ll trust your judgement. I’m sorry that this happened. _

_ Callum [10:02pm] _

_ Me too. _

Callum pocketed his phone with a heavy sigh, turning to head to his parent’s old master bedroom to remove his stuff. There was no way Rayla wanted to potentially share at this point, with how angry she was at him. He fully understood why she was so upset, he probably could’ve taken Aaravos on and made it so that no one had to die today. This really was his fault.

He moved all of his clothes and other little bits of his that Soren had taken out into the living room, setting them neatly on the reclining chair next to the couch. He wondered if he should text Claudia and propose a swap of himself and someone staying at Lujanne’s. Surely Rayla didn’t even want to see him right now, for however long. Maybe forever. Oh, god, was this the end of their friendship? How could she ever think to forgive him for just letting Runaan sacrifice himself like that?

Callum could feel his breathing grow quicker and shorter.  _ Dammit, no, not now! Zym was still in the house, he didn’t need to witness this! _

Music began to play softly around him, and he realized in a slight haze that his soul orb had activated again and was slowly orbiting around his face. A strange sight, since it usually stayed lower around his shoulders or torso. What was it doing? He hadn’t called it into action, nor wanted to for that matter. But here it was, singing to him a song he found familiar. Despite the solemn nature of the tune, Callum found strangely that his panic was ebbing in favor of focusing on the song. Realizing that there was something more to this, he racked his brain quickly to remember the lyrics that went along with the melody. Maybe if he sang to himself, he could calm himself down enough to postpone the panic attack.

Zym emerged from his assigned room, looking at Callum with a confused expression as the older boy continued to sing with shaky breath. The younger boy crept closer and sat next to Callum on the couch, looking around slightly. Zym fixed his gaze back on Callum, a question in his eyes.  _ Where was Rayla? _

“Ah…” Callum mumbled, unsure of how to go about this question. He couldn’t possibly tell Zym that Runaan was dead, he was still a kid! “Rayla just went out for a bit of a walk. But when she comes back, we should give her some space. She’s not feeling too well. Okay?”

Zym nodded, still confused, but accepted his words. Another question in his eyes.  _ What about you? _

“I’ll be fine.” Callum reassured quickly- an easy habit. Lying about his state of mind was one of the most common things he did. It was terribly unhealthy, but what else was he supposed to do? Pour all of his burden onto a mute ten-year-old kid? Absolutely not.

He sighed. “It’s getting late for a kid your age, Zym. You should head off to bed. I promise I won’t go anywhere, okay?”

As soon as Zym was placated ad had returned to his room, Callum gave up his little upbeat facade. He promised that he wouldn’t go anywhere- all that meant is that he wouldn’t leave the house. Unlike everyone else, however, Callum knew the secrets of his old childhood home. There was a small room under the stairs that led under the ground, sort of a mini-basement. It was his best option for being alone to think, alone to mourn.

Even as he found himself making his way over to that hidden room, his mind trailed back to Runaan. While he wasn’t as young as Callum, far from it, he was still rather young in terms of human lifespan. He hadn’t deserved to die like that. The authorities most likely wouldn’t ever know what killed him- how could someone detect a death like that, anyway? They would likely rule it as an unknown cause of death in the end.

Anger and guilt was starting to swirl in his gut. Rayla’s words ate at him like a terrifying acid, he could feel his composure crumbling more and more by the second. The more he thought about the day’s events, the more he realized it was all on him. Sure Aaravos found the location of the main Moonshadow house because he and Claudia went over there so often- they hadn’t even considered being careful about it. How careless could they get? And when he had been right there, in the center of the storm, he’d faltered and ran, all because he foolishly believed that Runaan and Ethari could handle that monster. He’d fought Aaravos before, why had he even considered letting them face off with him alone?

They’d needed Callum. And he’d left them to die.

This was  _ his  _ fault.

He should’ve killed Aaravos when he had the chance the first time around. He could’ve ended it all right there that night, but he’d been tricked and made a fool of. Aaravos was still alive because of Callum’s incompetence and now a man was dead because of it- and not the one that needed to be dead. It had been bad enough coming to terms with the fact that he, a teenager, had to kill another person for the greater good, but now that an innocent man had been snuffed right under his nose… it was so, so much worse.

He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t bear to be around any of his friends. He was an accomplice of murder and he couldn’t be forgiven. At that moment, he heard a door open and close above him- Rayla had returned. She didn’t call out for him or Zym, but he soon heard another door slam shut. She must have locked herself in the master bedroom. That was fine. She didn’t have to deal with him ever again at this rate.

Callum crept up back to the main floor, quickly checking the time on his phone- he realized that he’d been down there for a lot longer than it had felt. At least an hour. Maybe, with dumb luck, everyone else was already asleep and wouldn’t see him. But he just had to get out. He rushed himself towards the front door, his active soul orb lazily trailing after him. He opened the door as quietly as he could, and shut it in the same manner once he stepped out. He used the spare key to lock the door behind him- he wasn’t sure if he would be coming back during the night. He took one last look at his childhood house, biting his lip with slight hesitation, before his storming feelings got the better of him. Without another word, he turned tail and sprinted down the sidewalk into the night.

All alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whew.... hurts.... BUT YOU ALL KNEW THIS WAS COMING. HOW MANY TIMES DID I SAY PEOPLE WERE GONNA DIE IN THIS FIC
> 
> F in chat for Runaan mans was found face down in the grass
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> (Side note I post stuff about SOS on my Tumblr that I don't talk about on here, so if you want some extra info/lore you should look there :D)


	19. Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum was intent on running for the rest of his life, if it meant that he didn’t have to cause anyone else pain via his stupid choices. He had nowhere to really go, his memory of Duren as a place was foggy at best, and there certainly was no Midnight Forest he could run off to with his tail between his legs. Maybe if he just made it out of the suburban area he could find a shop or store to hide in. Maybe a mall that he could run around the back of and camp himself in a ditch. Somewhere had to be empty enough and also hidden enough for him to lose his composure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The amount of ANGRY everyone was at me for last chapter was fucking amazing and hilarious. So naturally I didn't fix anything in this chapter
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

Callum was intent on running for the rest of his life, if it meant that he didn’t have to cause anyone else pain via his stupid choices. He had nowhere to really go, his memory of Duren as a place was foggy at best, and there certainly was no Midnight Forest he could run off to with his tail between his legs. Maybe if he just made it out of the suburban area he could find a shop or store to hide in. Maybe a mall that he could run around the back of and camp himself in a ditch. Somewhere had to be empty enough and also hidden enough for him to lose his composure.

His gifted soul orb was still trailing after him as he ran, although a lot faster this time. It was singing some piano composition to him, as if anything of the sort would help his case. His powers only reminded him of his failure, and his orb only reminded him of Rayla. He wished it would just go away, and leave him alone, but it didn’t seem like that was possible. It was almost surgically attached to him by some kind of soul link, or something like that.

He was so incredibly angry, at Aaravos and at himself. Callum didn’t think he would ever stop being angry at himself for this. There was no excuse. Adults weren’t always right, Runaan and Ethari had been wrong to send him away- and he’s been so incredibly wrong to listen to them. He hated everything about this- hated himself that the events had gone so terribly. Sure, Rayla was safe from a physical standpoint, but from a mental standpoint… he’d never failed someone this badly before. And if Ethari was alive- Callum hoped to god he was- he would have to face him as well. He was the reason his husband was dead.

“It’s my fault.” Callum repeated to himself emotionlessly as he continued his running. He was running out of breath, he’d have to stop soon, if only he could find a good place to hide himself away in-

Callum stopped in his tracks, having come across an unlit public park. No one was there, and the lights were completely off. Perfect. Maybe he could find a tree to climb or a cluster of man-made hills that could hide him away from plain sight. On the other hand, he could go look for a more wooded area in the park, away from the main pathways, where he could do some damage. It wasn’t necessarily a good idea, but he was just so _angry_ and _upset_ and he needed to release these feelings one way or another.

He was going to kill Aaravos for real now. He wasn’t going to play around with that bastard anymore. The least he could do is avenge Runaan’s death, as well as the deaths of everyone else that vile monster caused. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

As soon as Callum made it to an area of the park he deemed isolated enough, he fell to his knees and just let himself scream. A long, drawn out yell of anger, guilt, frustration, and self-deprecation. He wasn’t quite sure how long it was before he finally quieted down, but he thought with a bitter afterthought that this was probably how Runaan had fallen.

It should’ve been him. A million times over it should have been him and not Runaan. Runaan would still be alive if he’d just never met Rayla. Runaan would still be alive if he’d just never been born with his stupid powers and his stupid lack of a soul song. Callum’s lips drew up in a snarl as he continued to think these horrible thoughts to himself, his soul orb spinning wildly around him as the projection of his turmoil grew louder.

“Callum.”

Callum whirled around, a hand raised to fire off a sound blast if needed. He lowered his hand once he saw who had managed to find him- and it wasn’t who he was expecting.

“Lujanne?” He asked bitterly. “How did you find me? Why would you follow me, anyways?”

“I have lived a long life full of ups and downs, Callum.” She replied gently, taking a few more steps toward him. “Do you think that I haven’t gone through such a thing you’re going through now?”  
  


“I killed Runaan.” Callum spat miserably, getting to his feet now. “Have you ever murdered someone, that you would understand this?”

Lujanne’s eyes flashed with something for a moment. “Runaan was my friend, and I’m terribly upset that he’s gone now. But you didn’t kill him, Callum, and you need to understand this.”

“HOW SO?” Callum snapped, feeling a stab of guilt in his heart at her words. “How didn’t I kill him? Explain that to me! I knew full well what Aaravos can do, I’d fought him before, I’d won! I was the one with the best chance to survive facing off against him and I let Runaan and Ethari cover for my cowardly ass! I _knew_ this was going to happen and I still let them take up my burden! So tell me how I didn’t kill Runaan, Lujanne! TELL ME!”

Lujanne studied him carefully, watching as his soul orb sped around him with a terrible speed, and how the volume of the song he was projecting was unstable. She let out a breath, before flashes of light happened around her and blacked-out figures stood on either side of her. “Spar with me. You need something to hunt, something to bully right now. Fight my illusions while we talk.”

Callum stared at her, his lips still set in a venomous snarl. He shouted angrily, focusing on his control of the soul energy specifically now. Glowing blasts of condensed sound formed in the palms of his hands, and he wasted no time sending them flying at the dark illusions. Lujanne made her way well away from the blast zone, focusing instead of controlling her illusions to make them move like real people. The dance had begun.

“You made a mistake, Callum. You’re still young and you’re allowed to make mistakes. It’s just unfortunate that the aftermath of the misstep was so severe.”

“This wasn’t just a simple mistake, Lujanne!” Callum roared, nearly pouncing on one of the illusions. “There is no ‘mistake’ that costs the life of a human, that’s a fault! I knew one or both of them were most likely going to die trying, and I let them boss me away despite it all! Tell me how that isn’t on me?!”

“Ethari and Runaan are grown adults that can make their own choices, Callum! You can only hope to protect everyone but you cannot force your will upon other people just because you want to be the hero!” Lujanne yelled sternly, summoning more illusions to throw into the mix.

“I want to be the hero?!” Callum let out incredulously. “I didn’t want any of this! I didn’t ask for any of this either! I didn’t ask to be born with an extra power, I didn’t ask to go through life trying to cover my ass for it, and I definitely didn’t ask anyone to die for me!” Tears were trailing down his face as he sparred with the illusions now. “Everyone kept saying I have the best chance of being able to defeat Aaravos! Me! A kid! I may not be as young as Zym or my brother, but I’m still a kid, and all of this responsibility found its way onto me! I didn’t even ask to be involved with this shit to begin with, Aaravos sought me out first!”

“Everyone always has a choice for their fate. Don’t you get that, Callum? No one is forcing you to do any of this. You could just stop caring right now, and move on with your life. Let someone else fight the fight.”

He scoffed. “It’s well too fucking late for that, don’t you think?! And how is that supposed to help your side of the argument, anyways? That just tacks on another mistake I made along the way, another reason why the fault is mine! Your attempts at trying to placate me are just lies, and I won’t stand for them!”

Lujanne looked guilty then. “No, Callum, that isn’t what I was trying to say-”

As Callum struck down yet another illusion, something primal in his heart snapped. He roared again, a massive shock-wave of sound radiating out from his body. The soul energy that was floating around him as he fought suddenly gravitated towards his raised hands, sinking below the surface of his skin. His eyes opened, glowing black with the energy, as he let out another scream. A powerful blast of sound came shooting out from his open mouth, destroying the last illusions that were still standing. He turned to Lujanne now, eyes completely blacked out, but his expression almost animalistic with bared teeth.

“How many times do I have to say it?” When Callum spoke, his voice was low, dangerous, venomous. “How can anyone see me as anything other than the monster I am? I am a human without a soul song, strange and unlike every single other human on this planet. Instead, I can invade and hear the soul song of others’ without consideration of boundaries or privacy. Paired with this energy, look what I become. A weaponized teenager without a single redeeming quality. It’s because of soul powers like mine that bad things happen to other people around me. And even if I show restraint, those bad things still happen. A man is dead, and here you are trying to tell me it’s not my fault. Even a dead man’s daughter has more common sense than you, at least she knows where the blame should be placed.”

Lujanne’s look of fear was replaced with sorrow and pity at his last sentence. “Rayla’s blamed you?”

_Rayla._

All at once, a throb of pain shot through his heart, he fell to his knees again, and his fusion with the soul orb disconnected. The now deactivated soul orb solidified mid air and fell into the grass as Callum clenched his jaw as tightly as he could, but he could still feel the tears rapidly leaking out from his eyes. _Dammit, dammit, dammit!_

“Oh, young Callum…” Lujanne called, voice dripping with pity and concern.

Callum lifted his head to meet Lujanne’s eyes, expression miserable, tear tracks on his cheeks like rivers. “It hurts.” He bit out, choking back a sob. “It hurts because I’ve hurt her so much, and I could’ve prevented this. She was right to reject me, you know. It is my fault. I failed her, I failed Runaan, and I failed Ethari. How could either of the remaining two bear to forgive me?”

Lujanne stepped closer to Callum, bent down and placed a soothing hand on his shoulder. “I don’t think you’ll ever believe me, but this isn’t your fault. Could you maybe have done something to prevent this? Yes, but then where do you think Runaan and Ethari would be? What if that had been your body found earlier, and not Runaan’s? Where do you think the feelings of blame would go to then?”

Callum sniffled, blinking furiously to clear his eyes. “W-well…”

“This feeling of guilt is normal, Callum. It’s a normal reaction to a terrible event. This does not mean that the feelings are true.” She continued firmly. “Runaan and Ethari took your place because they did not want _you_ to die. This conflicted with your want to keep _them_ from dying. One side had to give no matter what, it just happened to be you. Their mission wasn’t just about Rayla anymore in that moment, they were doing it for the both of you. Perhaps even the whole of your group of friends, for that matter. Sometimes there are priorities that outweigh the other priorities. No matter what path was taken today, the risks were still huge and it was a reality of choosing the lesser evil. So even if you had chosen to stay, there was nothing you could do to ensure a happy outcome.”

Callum shook his head. “No, you’re wrong, I could’ve-”

“You fought Aaravos once and won, I am well aware. But that first fight was always to your advantage- you knew what he was capable of and he didn’t know anything about how strong you really were. A single win does _not_ guarantee yourself an eternal record of winning. Aaravos can kill anyone easily, with a single accurate shot. I know that you said he was interested in ‘mentoring’ you, but that only really tells that maybe he didn’t want to kill you right away. At best, he would’ve shot you with a corrosion shot and made you a walking zombie slave. Do you think anyone here would want that for you?”

Callum frowned, wiping his nose. “Better me than Runaan…”

“Don’t say that.” Lujanne warned with a frown of her own. “I know self-deprecating words when I hear them. You said it best yourself, Callum, you’re still young. A child. Do you remember the story of how Rayla’s parents gave their lives up to buy the rest of the group time to flee? They gave their lives up to save their child. You may not have been Runaan’s kid, and biologically neither is Rayla, but it was definitely the same sentiment. You have to understand that. It’s _not your fault.”_

“But Rayla-”

“Rayla is also still a kid and her judgement isn’t perfect.” Lujanne interrupted firmly. “Her choice to lash out and blame you for this tragedy was wrong, and I hope she has enough common sense in her heart and mind to realize that she’s very much in the wrong.”

Callum felt his lip quivering. “I don’t think she even wants to look at me anymore.”

“She’s that important to you, hmm?” Lujanne asked softly.

Callum nodded sadly. “So much… that isn’t just friendship, is it Lujanne?”

“I cannot pretend to know what your heart wants, Callum.” She replied with a small smile. “But I have lived a long life and seen many things. It doesn’t have to be more than friendship if you don’t want it to be. But if you do want it to be something more, if you find that your heart pines for something greater, then that is up to you. Only you can decide.”

Callum sagged as the last bits of pent-up emotions left him. He felt blissfully numb for the most part now. He brought himself to stand again, and so did Lujanne. He gave her a determined look. “That fusion… I became one with a soul energy that isn’t my own. My powers only seem to be growing stronger and I need to learn how to control them as much as I can. I don’t want to return to the suburbs yet. Do you think you could stay out here with me and help me train? Though I’ll understand if you want to actually sleep. I expect to be going all night at this rate, for training and a distraction.”

Lujanne grinned at him. “I’m always full of surprises- I used to work a night shift at a local store before I retired. Sleep schedules mean nothing to me! Let's get you trained up, shall we?” She asked, holding out her hand as an offering of sealing the deal.

Callum took her hand with a tiny smile of his own. “Let’s do this.”

* * *

Rayla felt awful. The moment she had come back to the house and locked herself away in the master bedroom she and Callum had been planning to share, the first thing she noticed was that all of his stuff was gone. At the time, she still didn’t really care. She was upset, and still crying over the loss of Runaan- god, she didn’t think she could stop crying tonight.

But as the minutes passed, a different kind of sadness started to bubble up in her gut, to the point she couldn’t ignore it anymore. She’d yelled at Callum, said terrible things, and all he wanted to do was try to comfort her. Rayla knew what Runaan and Ethari were like as people, they never would’ve allowed Rayla to face off against Aaravos alone if she had been in Callum’s shoes. Of course they wouldn’t have just let him fight. They had morals, for god’s sake. It was stupid and foolish to be mad at Callum for that.

What had she done?

What was wrong with her? Yelling at Callum like that, when he was most likely just as affected by this as she was? They’d spent weeks growing closer together, learning about each other, what makes them tick, what gets them down, what strengthens their will. Blaming Callum for the death of Runaan was probably one of the worst things she could’ve done. There was no telling how he was feeling now.

_Oh, gods!_ Rayla thought to herself, sitting up suddenly and launching herself off the bed. She nearly tore the locked door off its hinges. _I’ve made a horrible mistake! I can’t lose Runaan and Callum on the same day! Oh, what did I do?!_

“Callum!” Rayla cried out desperately, running out into the rest of the house. She found his stuff moved to the living room chair, but he himself was nowhere in sight. “Callum, please! Where are you? I’m sorry!”

Nothing.

Nothing, except for Zym groggily poking his head out of the door frame to his assigned room. He looked at her with tired and confused eyes. She bit back a curse.

“Oh, I’m sorry Zym. Go back to sleep. Don’t worry about me.” Rayla hoped to god that he couldn’t see the very obvious tears in her eyes.

Luckily, Zym remembered what Callum had said before- that Rayla wasn’t feeling well and that she should be left alone. So without another second of hesitation, he retreated back into his room to go back to bed. The moment Zym was out of her sight again, she dashed away back to the master bedroom and nearly broke down for a second time that night. Callum wasn’t in the house. _Callum was fucking gone and she didn’t know where he was or what mental state he was in._ She furiously began texting Claudia and Soren, hoping one of them would be awake still, asking frantically if they knew where Callum was, but after waiting a good amount of minutes with no reply, her hopes were shattered, and so was her composure.

Letting out an anguished wail, she buried her face back into the pillows, sobbing uncontrollably. It was surprising she even had tears left to cry at this point, but the guilt in her heart about how she’d treated Callum earlier was too much. The horrible what-ifs kept running through her mind, but one thought was crystal clear.

She really might’ve just lost Callum and Runaan in one night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HMMMMM THEY'RE FINALLY ADMITTING ITS NOT JUST FRIENDSHIP HUH I WONDER WHAT THIS COULD MEAN
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> (Side note I post stuff about SOS on my Tumblr that I don't talk about on here, so if you want some extra info/lore you should look there :D)


	20. In My Veins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rayla barely got any sleep that night. Truthfully, she hadn’t wanted to sleep in the first place with all of the panic over where the hell Callum was- (later she would realize she could’ve just looked for the feeling of her soul orb being in use outside of her person, but at the time she could barely focus on anything). He wasn’t answering his phone either. It was the next morning and he was still nowhere to be found.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We made it to the roaring 20's lads
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

Rayla barely got any sleep that night. Truthfully, she hadn’t wanted to sleep in the first place with all of the panic over where the hell Callum was- (later she would realize she could’ve just looked for the feeling of her soul orb being in use outside of her person, but at the time she could barely focus on anything). He wasn’t answering his phone either. It was the next morning and he was still nowhere to be found. Claudia and Soren were there with her in the master bedroom now, while Zym and Ezran played together in the other room. At this point all Rayla could do was stare dumbly off into space, her knees drawn to her chest.

“Well… Lujanne was also gone when we woke up, maybe she’s with him?” Soren supplied with uncertainty.

“Yeah, Rayla, he’s got to be somewhere. Even if he is alone, he used to live here, maybe he remembers his way around?” Claudia added.

“I told him it was his fault.” Rayla mumbled miserably. “I yelled and screamed at him that Runaan was dead because of him, and then I ran off without letting him get a word in. I come back and find he’s missing, I basically equated him to a murderer, why did I say that?”

Claudia frowned. “Well, I can’t say I particularly support you on that one. You fucked up, big time. But you have hope for yourself yet- look at how bad you feel about it. You want to make amends, yeah? You’ve got that going for you. As long as you want to make things right then I wouldn’t see why Callum wouldn’t give you a second chance.”

Rayla stared at Claudia in anguish. “I’m so stupid… I even forgot to feel for the tug. Whenever Callum uses my soul orb I can feel it in my chest, over the past few weeks I’d basically drowned it out because I never thought I’d need it, but I could’ve used it last night to try and find him. And now that I’m thinking about it, I don’t feel anything. He’s not using it.”

The siblings shared a look of worry.

“Rayla, it’ll be alright.” Soren said, taking the initiative- a rarity for him. “Clauds and I have known Callum for almost a decade. The only person he’s really unforgiving with is himself- a trait we’ve been trying for years to get him to unlearn. But you almost got him there in a matter of weeks, do you think that’s nothing?”

“Yeah.” Claudia continued with a firm nod. “He changed so much for the short time you’ve known each other, it’s honestly so amazing how much you’ve done for him. Do you really think he’d ignore all of that? Hell, he was even ready to stay behind with Aaravos for the sake of keeping you and your dads safe, even if it didn’t quite work out the way he wanted. Cal’s got a good heart, and a lot of experience in the way of loss. He’ll understand. Grief can make people do terrible things, that doesn’t reflect who you really are.”

Rayla’s lip quivered as she moved to lean slightly against Claudia’s side, seeking any comfort she could get. “I don’t want to lose Callum  _ and _ Runaan in the span of a few hours. They mean so much to me, and one of them is never coming back. I can’t… I can’t lose Callum either. He means too much to me to lose him like this…”

Claudia, upon hearing this revelation, perked up. “Hey, Soren? Do you think you could give us a moment alone? A one-on-one girl talk?”

Soren raised his eyebrow in confusion, but said nothing and left the room without an argument. Once the door to the bedroom was shut again, Claudia took Rayla by the shoulders softly and had her focus on Claudia’s face.

“Hey, Rayla.” Claudia began softly. “Look at me. It’s probably not my place to say this, but your feelings seem a little too strong for just normal friendship. Am I correct?”

Rayla sniffled, rubbing a hand over her eyes. “I know, I know this already, I was trying to ignore it, it just feels too fast, and he wouldn’t like me like that anyways. The friendship we have now is just… so good, you know? Well, it was… what if he doesn’t want to be friends anymore Claudia?”

_ God love them, they’re so fucking dense.  _ Claudia thought to herself, barely containing an eye roll. “Rayla, listen. Callum’s kinda very easy to read when it comes to emotions, I don’t know if you’ve noticed. That includes romantic feelings. If you ask me, I think that boy has been smitten since day one. He called you beautiful in a whole rant about you the first day the two of us met. Callum doesn’t usually just do that for a person he has no idea about, but he did for you. And again, he’s been so keen on the idea of protecting you these past weeks. Yeah, you can argue that he’d do that for any of us, but you can at least see that means he does really care for you?”

“I mean… I guess…” Rayla mumbled in reply, clearly uneasy about the concept. “But what if you’re wrong?”

Claudia sighed, shrugging her shoulders. “So then I’m wrong. And it’ll hurt for a while, but look how Callum and I turned out. He had a crush on me for a while, he confessed, and I turned him down- gently, of course. Now we’re here, and we’re still close as ever. I think, even if he doesn’t feel the same way in that regard, he would still love to be friends with you. And who wouldn’t? I know the two of us haven’t exactly bonded as much as you and Callum have, but I think you’re a great friend. You’ve got your flaws, as everyone does, but that doesn’t speak for your personality. Your heart is probably as big as Callum’s, if I’m being honest. I want to support the both of you through this fight, and I want to see you two make amends. If I knew where Callum was right now, I’d probably be saying the same thing to him, but I know where  _ you  _ are and you need comfort just as much as him. Maybe even more. That being said…” Claudia paused, taking a deep breath after her mini-speech.

“I don’t think I got to properly offer my condolences about Runaan. I’m sorry Rayla, truly. I would’ve gone after you last night when I saw you running off but Callum said not to, that it’d probably have made you worse. I don’t know if he was right about that or not, but I’m still sorry.”

Rayla sighed numbly, resting her forehead right below Claudia’s neck. “No, he was right. He knows me so well already, and this is the first time he’s ever seen me that bad. I probably would have lashed out at you as well.” She let out a heartless chuckle. “I think I’ve finally run out of tears to cry. I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”

Claudia sighed. “Well, I’ll wait here with you until Callum comes back. He has to come back, after all. It’s his best and only option.”

* * *

Callum was sprawled out in the grass, panting heavily as the sun peeked over the horizon to greet him. He’d done it- he’d trained all night. Despite the sudden ‘fusion’ of himself and the soul energy that had happened hours ago, nothing he’d tried during the actual training session had managed to cause that reaction again. A little disheartening, but even so, Callum felt incredibly light. Some sort of weird, undeserved liberation pulsed through his veins as the sun continued to rise.

“Don’t tell me you’ve given up now!” Lujanne’s teasing voice came from somewhere off to the side- Callum could see right through her though. Her voice was dripping with exhaustion.

“Ha ha, very funny. Do you even hear the sound of your own voice right now? You’re dead tired. More tired than I am, and I was the one doing all of the exertion this whole time.”

“I’m old!” Lujanne exclaimed in protest. “You’re still a young boy, you have more stamina than I ever could at this age.”

“Please don’t tell me you’re going to start a rant that begins with ‘back in my day…’” Callum groaned from his spot on the ground.

“No, I’ll spare you this time. But it’s morning now, we should be heading back. I’m sure all of your friends are awake and worried sick about where you went.”

At the mention of going back to the houses, Callum felt the familiar drop of anxiety return in his gut. This whole time he’d been focused on sparring with Lujanne’s countless illusions, the fact that he still had to eventually go back and face his friends had slipped his mind. There was nothing to distract him from it now.

Lujanne could feel the anxiety radiating off of him from a mile away. “Callum, I’m sure it will be fine. Everyone’s had the night to cool off, and to come down from the initial whirlwind of negative emotions. You can’t hide from this forever, they need you.”

“No one  _ really _ needs me.” Callum combatted stubbornly. “Relationships are only an invisible bond that can snap at the seams with a single scuffle. Temporary things. A lot of the time I must think I don’t mean anything because my soul is silent. I can’t exactly make those incredible connections with people. Everyone knows that a relationship has a better chance of holding if both parties share their soul songs with one another.”

“What does this have to do with the current situation, exactly?” Lujanne asked, thoroughly confused.

“I’m making sure I don’t get my hopes up.” Callum admitted, hauling himself up off the ground. “Bad things happen because of my powers. I’ve seen them all. What’s to say that Rayla and any of the others aren’t still seething at me? I’m still seething at myself, I just don’t have the energy to properly show it.”

Lujanne sighed. “Callum. You speak so little of yourself all the time, it worries me. And you’ve only been here for the better part of a day! You’ve got to stop being so hard on yourself.”

“Old habits die hard.” Callum brushed off with a wave of his hand. He took a deep breath. “Alright, let’s start heading back. I suppose the only worse it could get is all of them blaming me. I don’t think I could survive if Ezran blamed me for it. Not sure if I’m even surviving Rayla blaming me right now. I’m kinda just in a weird haze.”

“Emotional burnout can do wonders for a broken heart.” Lujanne said as the two of them walked out of the park.

With the rising sun came the activity in the streets. People were doing their morning walks and jogs on the sidewalks, while the occasional car drove by on the pavement. Shops and businesses in the distance were beginning to open, caught in the middle of their morning routines. It struck Callum just how long it had been since he’d been in Duren, and yet the streets didn’t seem to have changed that much at all. It was quaint, an atmosphere he hadn’t felt for awhile ever since the whole Aaravos situation came crashing into his life. While the two of them continued to walk, making it ever closer to the suburbs where the fighting would once again come to a climax, Callum found himself breathing deeply, nearly shutting his eyes, and just enjoying the change of pace.

Or at least, he tried to. The mounting anxiety in his gut was making it rather hard to focus on anything else. His heart was already pounding, and he wasn’t even home yet.

“Breathe, young Callum.” Lujanne reminded as they made their way up to Callum’s front door.

“Trust me, I’m trying.” Callum muttered back, taking the spare key and unlocking the door.

With a shaky hand and his heart in his throat, he pulled the door open and stepped inside. Lujanne followed him, just to make sure he would be okay.

“Hey dude.” Soren greeted from the couch. “Welcome back. Glad to see you’re okay… more or less. Why are you covered in dirt?”

“Training.” Callum replied softly with a yawn, the repercussions of staying up all night starting to catch up to him. “Sometimes you just go too hard, yknow?”

Soren shot him an amused smirk. “Oh I know. Just never thought I’d see you exercising that idea.”

“...Are we okay, Soren?” Callum asked nervously, wringing his hands together.

“Dude.” Soren said bluntly. “I was never mad at you. If anything I’m a little mad at Rayla for what she said to you. I never really knew Runaan, but I don’t think his passing was your fault at all. Of course we’re cool. I’m not the one you should be asking that, really.”

Callum puffed out a tiny breath. “Okay. Thanks. I just… my imagination always turns to the worst, you know?”

Soren nodded. “Yeah.” He stuck out his thumb and pointed in the direction of the hallway. “They’re in the master bedroom, waiting for you. Though I expect Claudia will excuse herself the minute you walk through that door.”

Callum gulped, heart racing against his chest. “Yeah. Wish me luck?”

As Callum made his way down the hallway slowly, he could’ve sworn he heard Soren say  _ You’ve got nothing to worry about  _ to his retreating back. Maybe things really would be okay?

But as soon as Callum gently opened the door and came face to face with the sight before him, his heart began screaming at him that  _ no, you can’t fucking do this. _

“Callum…” Rayla breathed out, voice full of sadness and… hope?

“Right.” Claudia said, standing up immediately. “I have no right to be here for this. You two, make amends right now or I swear I will lose it.” She ordered, brushing past Callum and leaving the room.

“Um.” Callum said in response, but Claudia had already shut the door behind her. He was alone in the room with Rayla. Rayla, who’d driven it into his skull so deep that the blame was on him. He could feel his breathing starting to quicken, panic settling in. What if she just started yelling at him again?

“I, um…” Callum tried, his voice wavering. Perhaps he should just submit and start apologizing. Yeah, that was a good place to start. “I’m sorry. I let you down. It should’ve been me, not Runaan-”

“ _ Don’t.” _

The fierce snap of her voice caused Callum to flinch, fearing the worst. He took a step back, his back hitting the door. Another wave of panic washed over him- she didn’t even want to hear his pathetic excuse for an apology. He hung his head, clasping his hands together.

“I-”

“Don’t you  _ dare  _ say things like that!” Rayla cried, turning to fully face him now. She was crying again.

Now Callum was getting mixed signals. His brow creased in confusion- what was she mad at him for exactly? “I-I don’t understand.”

Rayla slowly made her way off the bed, moving closer to him. “Don’t you dare say that you should have died in place of Runaan! Do you have any idea how much that would kill me?!” She screamed.

Callum’s mouth hung open. “B-but… I could’ve stopped Runaan from…”

“But then you would’ve been on that news report!” She cried, interrupting him again. “Don’t you dare think for a second that I’d rather have seen your dead body on the news in place of Runaan’s! I would’ve liked it that neither of you were the subject of a news report of that nature but I clearly can’t get what I want!” She stopped, bringing her hands up to cover her face. “Oh, look at me, I’m yelling at you again too!”

_ Nothing goes as planned.  _ Callum tilted his head, staring at her with a sad expression. “Maybe let’s just… sit down, yeah?” He tried, reaching out to her with a hand.

Rayla didn’t listen to him. In fact, she did almost the opposite. The moment his hand touched her shoulder, she basically launched herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around him as he body shook with repressed emotions. As stunned as Callum was, he immediately returned the favor, holding her just as tightly to his chest as her warmth spread across his skin like a wildfire.

“I’m sorry!” Rayla wailed into his shoulder, repeating these words over and over as she continued to shake. “You mean too much to me for me to lose you over something stupid I said! I never should have yelled at you for Runaan’s passing, it’s not your fault!”

Callum, on the other hand, felt a feeling like lightning shoot through him at her words. His brain was screaming  _ mine!  _ a t him over and over again as he held her securely to him. She wasn’t angry at him, she was angry at herself. Lujanne’s words of reassurance had rung true- they would be okay.

“Hey.” Callum pulled away slightly, just so he could look at Rayla properly. “I’m okay. It hurt originally, but it’s not about me. God knows I don’t care about putting my feelings first. Your feelings are more important to me. They always will. If blaming me for the short time helped you cope, then it was worth it.”

Rayla stared at him in disbelief, her eyes still full of tears. He would willingly be her scapegoat for such a thing just to help her feel better? How on earth could he be so kind and caring with her after how horrible she’d been to him?!

“Rayla, you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met.” He continued softly, giving her a soft smile. “I think it goes without saying that I would do anything for you at this point.”

She couldn’t look at him anymore. He was looking at her so softly, with his stupid gentle smile, and his caring green eyes, she couldn’t take it. Rayla surged forward, and without any second thoughts, pressed her lips to his.

And a moment later, to Rayla’s utter delight, Callum began to kiss her back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Laughs in more cliff-hangers  
> Every time I see a writer/artist I look up to give kudos on this fic I have a heart attack. Send help
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> (Side note I post stuff about SOS on my Tumblr that I don't talk about on here, so if you want some extra info/lore you should look there :D)


	21. Sing To Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world didn’t exist at the moment. There was only himself and Rayla, the only two people in the world, making out against a door in a mess of tears and anxiety. It would’ve been something Callum would laugh at for being so ridiculous if he wasn’t one of the main people experiencing said emotions right that moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> unfortunately for y'all my immense motivation to write this fic that I had for the last three chapters is peetering out, so i might start being a little slower on updating again. Hopefully I can just push myself to go for 4 more chapters and then I'll be done with part 1 of this fic and I can actually take a break. Whew.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

Things quickly turned a lot more heated if you were to ask Callum later about it. He was backed up against the door, with Rayla pushing at him with her lips and body. She practically had him trapped, not that he was really complaining. Her arms were around his neck now, and he could feel his hands moving on their own to wrap around her waist. Shivers ran up his spine when he felt her small fingers starting to play with the hair at the back of his neck. He could feel Rayla’s lips move against his in a fiery desperation he’d never experienced before, but now that it was there, he could feel it slowly taking over him too. It was one of those kisses that just screamed  _ I need you, don’t ever leave me please, I couldn’t bear losing you.  _

The world didn’t exist at the moment. There was only himself and Rayla, the only two people in the world, making out against a door in a mess of tears and anxiety. It would’ve been something Callum would laugh at for being so ridiculous if he wasn’t one of the main people experiencing said emotions right that moment.

Rayla was the first to pull away, and despite the obvious euphoria radiating off of the both of them over the fact that  _ they’d just kissed  _ and neither of them were rejecting the other, Callum found silent tears occupying Rayla’s beautiful cheeks when he opened his eyes again. He immediately felt his happiness get replaced with worry at the sight.

“Rayla?”

“I’m sorry.” Rayla sniffed, wiping an arm across her nose roughly. “I didn’t mean to ruin this. I just… I miss Runaan.” Her voice was so small.

Callum frowned, softly taking one of her hands in his. “Hey, do you wanna maybe… sit down now?” He asked softly.

Rayla nodded, small sniffles still coming from her. Callum was never one to consider Rayla to be frail and small, but in this moment, that’s all he could think about. He guided her gently back to the bed in the room, sitting down first and gesturing for her to join him. She did, crawling over to him and immediately falling back into his arms. Once again, he wasn’t complaining, he just wished she wasn’t feeling so down.

“Can we talk about… this… later?” Rayla asked quietly, her face buried into his shoulder. “I just want to… stay here for awhile.”

“We don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to, Ray.” Callum promised, his little nickname slipping out.

“Thank you.” She breathed, before shyly adding, “My prince.”

Callum felt a goofy grin spread across his face. “Your prince, huh? So you’ve finally admitted that I am a prince after all! I knew my good looks would pull through! I  _ am  _ a total catch!”

He heard an annoyed groan from Rayla. “You know what? I regret kissing you. I take it back.”

Callum, sensing a playful invitation, started to put on his theatrics. “Oh, I’m gravely wounded! Your words have cut me deep once more! This is the end for me!” He wailed dramatically.

Rayla shook her head, pulling back from his embrace slightly. “Oh, don’t you start this again. I’d had quite enough of it the first time.” She punctuated her sentence by pressing a firm kiss to his cheek.

Callum, ever dramatic, fell over backwards with a face-splitting grin, Rayla yelping in surprise as he took her down with him. They were fully laying on the bed now, Rayla softly giggling while Callum just stared at her in awe. How had things come to this? A chance encounter in the middle of the woods in the dead of night, now translating to… well, what were they exactly now?

“We should talk about us later though.” Callum mumbled, not quite paying attention however.

Rayla suddenly blushed in front of him. “Why are you staring at me like that?”

Callum could feel his heart hammering in his chest. “Sorry, you’re just… so beautiful.”

Rayla scoffed, shaking her head. “Yeah right, I’m a mess. I’ve got tear tracks down my cheeks, I probably have snot running down my nose, my eyes must be so incredibly puffy-”

“And what of it?” Callum countered stubbornly. “That doesn’t change the truth. You, with your stunning lilac eyes, and your pretty, silky, white hair, and your cute little nose, are beautiful. Don’t you doubt your body.”

Rayla’s mouth dropped open in shock, the blush furiously returning to her cheeks. She didn’t even let him get another word out before she captured his lips again, rolling to lie on top of him. Her hands were placed solidly on either side of his head, creating craters in the mattress as her body weight applied force. Callum wasted no time and captured Rayla’s face in his hands, kissing her back with just as much ferocity as she was to him. His mind was once again screaming  _ mine, all mine  _ at him again as his eyes fell closed. There were no words to describe just how much he wanted this; wanted her. And as far as he was concerned, he would have her once they talked. She wouldn’t actually regret this now, having kissed him more than once?

“Stop that, Callum.” Rayla said, breaking the kiss and glaring at him firmly. “I can hear you having doubts, don’t you ever dare think I don’t want this. I don’t even care if this seems too fast anymore, when I realized that I might have lost both you and Runaan in one night… all I could think about was how empty my life would be without you. I… I don’t want that.”

Callum was nearly melting under her. “You know, I was having those same thoughts. That this was going too fast, but this just feels so  _ right.  _ You’ve changed my life so much, brought me into new things, and while it’s not all good things, I’m still so glad I met you. I’m so glad that when I stumbled across you that night, you gave me a chance instead of just running away from this sleep-deprived weirdo. The minute I heard your soul… all those words I used to describe it to Claudia, I meant them all. Beautiful, mystical, amazing. Remember that night, when your hair was glowing as you created one of your soul orbs? You became a beacon of light for me that same moment.”

Rayla let out a strained noise, letting her head fall face first against his chest. “Stop, stop it, you’re so sappy and I can’t handle this.”

Callum grinned, circling his arms around her again, holding her safely in place. “What? I can’t compliment you? Surely I can, I was just doing it! I should be allowed to compliment my… my uh…”

Rayla raised her head a little again, eyes half-lidded and soft, rosy red on her visible cheeks. “Girlfriend?”

Callum felt a blush rising to his cheeks now, as he pulled an awkward, embarrassed face. “W-well… if you want to be… I would love to have you.”

Rayla’s face suddenly sported a goofy looking grin. “I would love to.” She replied honestly, the affection in her tone heavy. “Also, the face you just pulled was so adorable, do it again.”

Callum did do it again, but not by conscious choice. Rayla’s ability to be so forward with her teasing and flirting was completely knocking him around. She giggled at him, a sound that sent Callum’s heart slamming against his ribcage.

“So much for talking about it later, huh?”

Rayla rolled her eyes. “Dummy. I couldn’t resist for much longer anyways. How could I, with your cute face looking at me like that?”

Callum chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “What am I going to do with you?”

Rayla’s voice suddenly became quiet again. “Hold me until I can feel okay again?”

Well, that just stabbed a knife through his heart. Of course she was still feeling upset about Runaan, he was basically a father to her. No amount of sappy words could change that. So, he simply nodded and tightened his arms around her. She moved only a bit just to snuggle herself closer to him. The adrenaline that came with worrying about the amends part and the euphoria that came with the kissing part was starting to wear off from the both of them now.

“You may have noticed I was up training all night.” Callum said with a yawn.

“Oh yes, I definitely noticed. You’re covered in dirt, you dummy.” Rayla replied, voice muffled. “I’m just as tired as you are. Did you really think I got any sleep last night?”

“I was hoping you did.” Callum admitted with a frown. “You deserve your rest, you know?”

“Says the one who pulled an all-nighter to train more, which you really didn’t need to do. You deserve your rest too. You barely sleep on a good day!”

“Well…” Callum started sheepishly. “Actually, ever since you came into my life, my sleep schedule’s gotten a little better. Something about you just makes all the thoughts in my head quiet down more often- that’s what usually keeps me awake. But you… you calm me down.”

“Good.” She said firmly. “I’m glad. But that doesn’t change the fact that we both need some serious naps.”

“Well, we’ve got a bed under us, and I’m pretty sure no one will bother us for awhile. Care to take a rest, Ray?”

Rayla wrinkled her nose. “That nickname is horrid. No thought. Here I am making all of these amazing nicknames for you, and all you do is shorten my normal name. This relationship is already one-sided.”

Callum snorted. “Alright, I’ll think of a better one. You, on the other hand, should be going to sleep. Right now.”

“You first.”

“ _ Rayla.” _

“...Fine. It’s just that if I stop talking then I’ll just start thinking about… yesterday again.” She mumbled softly.

Callum made a face. Well, that wouldn’t do, would it? He could stay up for a bit longer, years of disjointed sleep trained him for this exact moment. “Tell you what. I’ll still go to sleep as well, but only after you sleep first. I have a plan to help keep you distracted from thinking about other things as well.”

“Huh?”

“I could sing to you.” Callum offered, lazily running a hand through Rayla’s soft hair.

“...Okay.” She accepted after a beat of consideration.

Callum scooted them further back carefully, just so his head could rest on the pillows, and Rayla’s could too if she chose to move off of him. He didn’t expect that to happen though. Once they were properly comfortable again, Callum racked his brain for some song lyrics to sing. He wasn’t going to use his soul orb for music accompaniment this time- he didn’t want to risk overloading Rayla’s attention. He wasn’t sure how well he would be able to control the volume of his projection anyways, considering that he was still incredibly tired.

After searching his memory for a little bit, he settled on something with a small smile. He took a claim breath, and began to sing softly into the air around the two of them.

* * *

The moment Claudia had left the room with Rayla and Callum still inside, she marched right into the living room of the house and forcefully ordered everyone out. With Claudia’s firm directing, everyone else vacated the house and went across the street to camp out at Lujanne’s. Zym and Ezran went back to playing for the most part, while Claudia, Soren, and Lujanne all sat at the kitchen table with mugs of various drinks in each of their hands.

“I’m still worried.” Claudia admitted out of the blue, staring into her cup. “Callum had mentioned at some point yesterday that he’d texted his aunt Amaya, saying that we were safe and all of that, but there’s been no response. Complete silence on the other end. I’m sure Rayla’s tried texting Ethari as well, and I have Janai’s number. I don’t think any of us have connections to Zym’s mother, unless he has a phone or remembers her contact information. But the point is, there’s been no response at all. I know it’s only been a day or so, but don’t you think they should’ve said something by now?”

“I’m sure they’re all safe, Clauds.” Soren tried to reassure. “Didn’t you see the news report? They said there was a blood trail heading into the woods, starting right next to where they found Runaan’s body. Surely that means Runaan got a hit on the bastard before… well, you know. Aaravos must’ve gotten injured, and I’m pretty sure he’s smart enough to know when giving chase is a risk. The blood trail would have left him vulnerable. I most likely ran off to patch himself up instead of trying to hunt down the rest of the adults. That should have given them enough time to group up and hide. Or escape, either one.”

“But don’t you think they’d at least answer a text?” Claudia countered. “Or if they escaped, why didn’t they come here? They clearly used to know Lujanne, and she even said herself that she was acting as a safehouse! Why didn’t they come here as soon as they could if they got away?”

“Well…” Lujanne interjected. “Perhaps the other adults got tired of running.The purpose of the Moonshadows to begin with was to combat and hopefully neutralize Aaravos and his world-ending antics, but all we’ve really done so far is run for the most part .That’s not what the goal was. They could most definitely still be alive, but still very much in Katolis as we speak. Maybe they’re just constantly on the move from place to place, evading discovery. If Runaan managed to stab Aaravos, I’m sure he’s most likely getting incredibly agitated at this point. Soren, you said that he was eager to strike Rayla’s house when you overheard him talking to your father?”

“Yeah.” Soren nodded glumly. “Before he… corroded him.”

“Then he was already getting impatient. He may not have purposefully shown it, but his actions denote that he’s getting tired of this. The last I heard of him, he liked to taunt us about this all being a little game. But it seems that even he’s starting to get tired playing it. Getting injured would be a setback for him. He’ll get angry, more angry than he already was playing the long game. I suspect in the next few days that we’ll be seeing Katolis on the news again, but hopefully no more names we know are mentioned.”

Claudia huffed, playing with her cup. “All of this is cracked. Callum and Rayla, they’re still both kids! Hell, I’m only a year older! But look at all this trauma they already have! This shouldn’t be happening to them, or to any of us for that matter!”

“Tell that to Aaravos, I’m sure he’d listen.” Lujanne deadpanned. “I know it’s unfair, Claudia, but sometimes other people don’t. Aaravos doesn’t care if he hurts anyone else. There isn’t a shred of morality in that man, there never has been.”

Claudia sighed. “Honestly, even if I hadn’t known about Aaravos, my dad would’ve probably dragged me in anyways. I can’t believe he would work to help someone like him! I thought I knew my dad, but apparently I didn’t know him at all! I’m so mad, Soren even said that he didn’t care if Aaravos killed Callum! How could he say that?!”

Lujanne sighed. “The prospect of power can change people into monsters. Aaravos is the biggest example. Did Runaan or Ethari ever tell you two that Aaravos used to be a friend? We all used to live in the Silvergrove together, and everything seemed fine. But one day it all changed. We still don’t know what caused Aaravos to turn like this, but one day he came out and started ranting about how he could take the world by force and how easy it would be. He displayed his powers, and we were horrified. From that day, we cast him aside and vowed to be there to stop him at every turn.”

“Did he, like, not know his powers were there for the first… what, thirty years of his life?” Soren asked, confused.

“Not everyone knows their power is there from the beginning. It’s very possible that Aaravos hadn’t known for a long time, but something allowed him to discover it. That’s the thing we’re in the dark about. We don’t know the catalyst, and we probably never will.” Lujanne rubbed a hand over her face. “It doesn’t really matter, anyways. Knowing that one detail won’t help us stop him. It’d just be a minor mystery solved. All we can really do for now is hope that the rest of us are safe and that they respond soon. We need to regroup as soon as possible, and figure out where we go from here. The endgame is soon, I can feel it.”

“Hey, Claudia?” Ezran’s voice startled the three.

“Ezran? What’s wrong?” Claudia asked, sensing dissatisfaction.

“Well… Zym says he misses his mother, and I thought if anyone were to know if she was okay, it’d be one of you three.”

“Wait… Zym told you this? With words?”

“Oh.” Ezran blurted. “No, but I can see your confusion. Zym’s been slowly learning ASL, and since I already know it because of Aunt Amaya, I was able to decipher his message! He’s a little sloppy still, but it’s still understandable. So… Do you know anything about Zubeia? And the rest of the adults, for that matter?”

Claudia grimaced. “I’m sorry Ezran, but we’re just as in the dark as you are. But the moment we get any updates we’ll tell you, okay? They have to reach out at some point!”

Ezran, satisfied with her promise, nodded happily and bounded off the go play with Zym again. Claudia’s false optimism faded as soon as he was gone, and she turned back to face Soren and Lujanne.

“They better be alive. For their sake. I’m not going to be the one explaining why their mom and aunt aren’t coming back.” She hissed through her teeth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, part 1 of SOS ends at chapter 25. The endgame IS coming. But what does this mean for the other 25 chapters? You'll see~
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> (Side note I post stuff about SOS on my Tumblr that I don't talk about on here, so if you want some extra info/lore you should look there :D)


	22. Dark Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ethari’s jaw was set tight as he ran from the backyard. He could hear Runaan’s words echoing in his head- telling him to go, round up the rest of the group, safety in numbers. This wasn’t a fight they could win right now. He’d buy him enough time to escape. Ethari didn’t like this choice one bit, but there were no good choices to make in this situation. So he did as he was told- he fled, leaving Runaan alone to the wrath of Aaravos.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting closer boyos. Once part 1 ends, a whole different arc begins in part 2. I don't think anyone is expecting where I'm going to go with this story.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

Ethari’s jaw was set tight as he ran from the backyard. He could hear Runaan’s words echoing in his head- telling him to go, round up the rest of the group, safety in numbers. This wasn’t a fight they could win right now. He’d buy him enough time to escape. Ethari didn’t like this choice one bit, but there were no good choices to make in this situation. So he did as he was told- he fled, leaving Runaan alone to the wrath of Aaravos.

The first order of business was Callum’s aunt. She wasn’t that involved with the Moonshadows in general, but Aaravos knew of Callum, and therefore Amaya was in danger anyways. Ethari caught the tail-ends of a sight he felt almost relieved to see- a car peeling out of the area on the street, and with the small amount of information that he could take in, he managed to spot Callum’s mop of brown hair in the car. Good. That must have meant Rayla was there too, with everyone else. They were escaping. Most likely without any adult supervision to tag along with them, but that was the least of their problems at the moment. The smoke billowing off of his flaming house was casting a hazy orange glow everywhere in this sunset, and if he didn’t act fast, that same smoke would start to impair him. He had to move.

Wasting no more time, Ethari didn’t even bother knocking on the door to Amaya’s house- not that she’d be able to hear it anyways. If Callum and his brother Ezran had already left, there was no one left in the house to actually hear him pounding. So he rammed into the door, busting it open- which he knew he’d have to pay for later when all of this was said and done- and scrambled into the home to find her. He did, she was sitting at a desk with a small computer, typing away. The moment her eyes found him, she stood up abruptly, regarding him with an alarmed and confused expression- with perhaps a hint of annoyance. Frantically, he snatched a loose piece off of her desk, before he registered in the back of his mind that Amaya was, in fact, capable of reading lips. He just hoped she could understand his rapid-fire rambling.

“No time.” Ethari blurted, grabbing her by the arm. “Aaravos is attacking. We aren’t safe here, we need to go!”

Amaya raised an eyebrow at him, but nevertheless allowed him to lead her away. Before he fully got her outside, however, she stopped to pick up her pet dog before they left the house. Amaya’s skeptical expression melted into one of shock and horror when they stepped outside and she caught sight of the burning house. Ethari looked back at her with a solemn expression.

“I know, I know! We don’t have time to linger, we’re in danger! Come with me, we have more people to warn!” He said, making sure to leave his face visible for her to read.

Amaya nodded without any hesitation, and they both began to run. Down the sidewalk, as the smoke lazily trailed along in the air, spreading to everywhere it could. Ethari could feel the tell-tale signs of smoke inhalation starting to irritate his lungs, but he pressed forward. They had to get to Janai’s diner- there was a hidden safe room under the main building that had a tunnel as a way to escape. That tunnel connected back to an otherwise abandoned storage building that was inconspicuous enough to use as a second hide-out if the diner was too obvious.

What Ethari hadn’t been planning on, however, was the clear-as-day screams that began to erupt from the area now behind him. He could feel his heart die in his chest as he recognized the owner of those screams-  _ No… no please, please let him live. _

Every fibre in Ethari’s body was telling him to stop, to turn around and run back, to help his love for god’s sake, but that risk was too great. From the sounds echoing down the block, he could already tell that whatever was happening would most likely already have ended by the time he ran back. And then what? Would he be easy prey for Aaravos, right after…

Ethari shook his head furiously. No, he couldn’t think like that. Not now. He had a mission, a job, and by god he was going to keep everyone else alive. There was no time, and there was no room for irrational choices. He stuck to his guns- he kept running, Amaya following close behind him, with her confused-looking pet dog still tight in her arms.

_ Please, whatever gods might truly be out there, I’m begging you, keep Runaan alive. By some miracle, something, anything. Please don’t take my love from me. _

After a few more minutes of high-speed running, the two of them made it to the Sunforge Diner, where Ethari practically busted down the doors to this building as well. He was being a little rough, but he was stressed and panicking, his control of force was nonexistent.

“Ethari?!” Came Janai’s startled voice, as she caught sight of him the minute he entered.

“Aaravos…” Ethari panted, shoving Amaya forward in front of him. “This is Callum’s caretaker, keep her safe, I need to find Zubeia, the rest of you hide in the back room,  _ now.” _

Ethari left no time for Janai to respond as he turned and dashed out the doors into the street once more. Janai watched with worry and confusion as he ran off in the direction of Zubeia’s workplace- assuming she was currently still working. Janai puffed out a breath, turning to face Amaya.

“Hello.” She started a little awkwardly. “I’m Janai, a… friend of young Callum. I don’t think we’ve properly met before, but it’s incredibly unfortunate that this is how we are meeting. Do you have any idea what Ethari is going on about?”

Amaya made a face, and began to sign rapidly. Janai grimaced, trying her best to keep up with the hand motions to no avail. She really needed to learn ASL.

“Kazi?” Janai called out to her employee. “I need your assistance here- I’ve got someone who speaks ASL and I’m still really bad at being able to understand the language.”

Kazi emerged quickly, rushing over. “Hello!” Kazi said, signing as they spoke. “My name is Kazi, I can translate for you! What seems to be the problem?”

Amaya blinked, and started her signing over again from the beginning. Kazi watched and managed to keep up despite her going so fast.

_ “Ethari came bursting into my house and told me Aaravos was on the offensive. His house is on fire, the kids are missing, and I don’t know where his husband is. He told me that we had no time, and he brought me here.”  _ Kazi translated, their expression growing more and more horrified the more they translated.

Janai’s jaw nearly hit the floor. “Oh my god.” She breathed. “Okay. Kazi, you have to get our few customers out of here. Tell them their meals are free, I don’t care, just get everyone out. We’re closing. Miss Amaya, you come with me. Kazi, once you’re done, I’ll need you back to translate for me again.”

“Right away Janai!” Kazi replied, rushing off once more to the occupied booths.

Janai wasted no time in grabbing Amaya’s hand and guiding her into the back, into a room with a door that said  _ KEEP OUT  _ in bright, bold letters. She pushed the door open with her other hand, flicking the lights on quickly and leading Amaya inside. The two of them waited for a few minutes, before Kazi came barreling in through the door themselves, a little out of breath.

“The diner is vacated, and I put up the closed sign on the door. I didn’t lock it just yet, however, as I expect that we’ll be having more company soon?” They asked.

Janai nodded grimly. “If it’s truly what I’m fearing, then we may have to hide out here for a good while. Ethari ran off on me before I could get a proper explanation out of him, but he said he was going to fetch Zubeia. Once those two come back, we should lock the doors.” She turned back to Amaya now. “So… you said Ethari’s house was on fire when you were running?”

Amaya nodded again, signing.  _ “The whole house, up in flames. I barely even had time of my own to process what was going on. Ethari didn’t tell me much more than he told you. All I know is that Aaravos was attacking and that Ethari had come to take me to safety. I’m guessing Aaravos would have considered me a viable target?” _

Janai nodded. “Unfortunately. That man really has it out for Callum now, almost as much as he does for Rayla. You do know of Rayla, yes?”

_ “Callum’s friend. I met her the same night he met her. She brought him back home in her arms after he passed out in the woods. Their meeting was… strange, to say the least. Nowadays Callum is nearly inseparable from that girl.” _

“A fine friendship they have.” Janai agreed. “But they are not with you… do you have any idea where any of the kids are? Are they out of the immediate danger?”

_ “Ethari gave me no information. I didn’t see them at all in my brief view of the neighborhood. The smoke from the flames was settling in fast. The kids are smart, they wouldn’t stay in an area that could damage their lungs.But other than that, I haven’t got a single clue. I’m hoping to god that they’re safe and Ethari knows where they are, because if he doesn’t know when I ask him next, I’m going back out there myself to find them.” _

“But your life would be at stake!” Janai countered. “And you could possibly lead Aaravos right to them if you were caught! Aaravos is more after Rayla, not after us, we can’t take a risk like that!”

_ “Do you think I give a damn about my life when my kids are out there and I don’t know if they’re safe?!”  _ Kazi translated furiously.  _ “Callum and Ezran, they are my late sister’s children and god forbid I leave them out there alone to die! And their friends too! All of those kids are important, more important than my singular well-being!” _

“You’ve got good morals in you, I can give you that.” Janai sighed. “But going out there right now is still a foolish idea. How would those kids feel if they were to learn you lost your life trying to look for them, when they were already safe?”

_ “That’s only a what-if. I’ll be willing to take that chance if I have to. I can’t leave a child in danger if I have anything to say about it. Wouldn’t you be the same?” _

“I…” Janai trailed off. She’d just met this woman, and she was already feeling strong pangs of respect for her. She would still risk herself for the kids, despite being deaf, and despite being severely outmatched. “You’re a good woman, Miss Amaya. I don’t need to know any more about you to come to that conclusion.”

“I agree.” Ethari said, suddenly appearing at the doorway, Zubeia in tow. “Fortunately for all of us, I saw the kids driving off before I came to get Amaya. They most definitely escaped, but I don’t know where to. That’s the only issue.”

Amaya perked suddenly, signing to Kazi again.

_ “Callum is smart. He might have remembered his old house- my sister’s old house- that he used to live in as a kid in Duren. I never could bring myself to sell it off once she passed. I kept it in working order. Everything they would need to survive is there, apart from food, but Callum has some money. I think his friend Claudia does as well, assuming she went along with him.” _

“I saw six people in that car before it sped off, I believe.”

“Six?” Janai asked. “Callum, his brother, Rayla, Claudia, and Zym… who else was there?”

_ “Soren. Claudia’s older brother. A bit of a moron, but he has a good heart. They’re in no danger tagging along with him.” _

“And now that just leaves the question…” Ethari puffed out. “What are  _ we  _ going to do now?”

The small group fell silent for a moment, taking in this moment of relative slowness before they would be thrust into motion for who knows how long. Zubeia stepped forward, a determined look on her face.

“I could see the smoke of the fire even from where I was still working. Even before Ethari came to get me, I could feel that something was horribly wrong. Aaravos seems to have a noticeable pattern- arson when he’s ready to launch a huge strike. He’s become impatient again, trying to speed things up to his pace. While we can’t allow such a thing, we’re also still outmatched. Ethari, where is Runaan?”

Ethari’s focus shattered the moment he heard the question. His eyes fell to the floor. “I… when Amaya and I were escaping here, I could hear his screams from the end of the street. To put it simply, Zubeia, I don’t know if he’s currently alive. But I’m hoping to every god out there in the universe that he is.”

A flash of guilt crossed Zubeia’s face for a moment, before she shook her head and focused again. “Okay. He bought you time to escape and round us all up. With how noticeable the fire is now, I don’t think Aaravos would want to stick around in an area he could be caught in. Especially after enduring one battle already. For all we know, he could be prowling the streets as we speak, looking for any of us. We’re his best chance for finding the kids, and we can’t let that happen.”

“Aaravos is getting angry and impatient.” Janai repeated. “He wasn’t afraid to pull such a big stunt now, who says he would be afraid to pull another? We can’t stay here. If we stay, he will surely find us. It’s only a matter of time. We have to leave!”

“And what, just leave the city in his clutches?” Zubeia countered. “If you think Aaravos will pull another big stunt again so soon, we should stay and make a stand! I’m tired of running, Janai! Every time a conflict comes to a head between us and him, we run and allow him to win. We need to put an end to this, now!”

“We  _ can’t,  _ Zubeia!” Janai argued. “Not without the kids, at least! The last thing I’d want is to put them in any danger, but at the same time, they’re our best hope for defeating this monster! Ethari’s been training Callum to control his powers better, and I’ve seen his strength when I came to watch a training session once. That boy has more power than anyone expects, if anyone can take Aaravos down, it’s him!”

_ “What, and just put Callum in the most danger like that?! I think not! He’s my nephew and I won’t stand for sending a child in to fight a world-ending threat!” _

“Callum’s already fought Aaravos before.” Ethari muttered darkly. “This information came to light when he confronted us in the backyard. Callum fought him once and won. Aaravos even backed him up, and admitted to it. Aaravos has never been one to hold back, so I suspect that fight had every inch of danger included. He may be your nephew, Amaya, but he’s also incredibly capable. He even tried to sacrifice himself to buy us time, but Runaan and I didn’t allow it. That choice may have been the deciding factor in if… if Runaan is…”

“So we have to go find the kids.” Janai decided firmly. If what Miss Amaya said is true, then they probably aren’t even in Katolis anymore. They must be heading to Duren as we speak.”

“Lujanne is in Duren.” Zubeia pointed out. “Maybe they can find her?”   
  


“I never told Rayla Lujanne was actually stationed there.” Ethari admitted. “She knows of Lujanne, but not her whereabouts.”

“But there’s still a chance.”

_ “Lujanne? Why is that name so familiar… Oh! Wait a moment. It was a long time ago now, but back before my sister passed, we would talk almost daily over the phone. She would talk to me about her day, what happened in her life, and I remember her mentioning a neighbor with that name more than once. Eccentric lady? She seemed to have a bit of a screw loose, from what I remember.” _

“That sounds like Lujanne.” Janai said with a roll of her eyes. “She always gave me a place to stay back in the Silvergrove before I properly moved there. I come from Lux Aurea. Every time I would stay over, there was always something new and weird with that woman. She has a ridiculous soul power to create illusions, and she loved to mess with people using them. I still have the motivation to sue her for trauma.”

“Now’s not the time for that, Janai.” Ethari soothed. “Have we decided, then? We’re not staying here? Aaravos is at large and we are in over our heads. Let’s just head to Duren and try to find the kids.”

“But what about Runaan? We can’t just leave immediately… we don’t know where he is, and we can’t leave him behind!” Janai protested.

“We… we just have to accept the possibility that Runaan is no longer with us.” Ethari bit out, throat tightening. “We need to gather what we can and get out of here. The sun is setting, so it shouldn’t be too hard to hide in the shadows once it’s fully down, but we still need to be careful. Do we all understand?”

“I guess Janai and I will be the ones doing the gathering.” Zubeia said, crossing her arms. “Your house is in flames, and I’m guessing that Miss Amaya’s house was close to your own. You guys will stay here and wait for us to come back.” She turned to Janai. “Who’s bringing the car, then? You or me?”

“I’ll do it.” Janai decided. “We’ll meet back here soon, and leave as soon as we can. We have to discuss hiding in the car precautions when we get there.”

_ “Try not to die while you’re at it.” _

“And good luck.” Ethari finished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soon. That's all. Just SOON.
> 
> ALSO I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU DON'T LISTEN TO THE SONG COUNTERPART FOR THIS ONE I'LL FIGHT YOU. I LOVE ME SOME DETROIT: BECOME HUMAN OST.
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> (Side note I post stuff about SOS on my Tumblr that I don't talk about on here, so if you want some extra info/lore you should look there :D)


	23. Outbreak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aaravos had never felt such satisfaction and anger over a battle at the same time. Here he was, shuffling along through the woods, holding his shoulder to try and stop the bleeding that damn Runaan had given him. These woods… this Midnight Forest, as the locals called it, would most likely have been his final resting place if Runaan had just stabbed him a bit lower. Unluckily for him, he missed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not enjoy this chapter. Mainly because I tried to write 3k words of Aaravos POV and I give up halfway through the chapter lol. I just couldn't stay in his POV the whole time. Fuck it.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

Aaravos had never felt such satisfaction and anger over a battle at the same time. Here he was, shuffling along through the woods, holding his shoulder to try and stop the bleeding that damn Runaan had given him. These woods… this Midnight Forest, as the locals called it, would most likely have been his final resting place if Runaan had just stabbed him a bit lower. Unluckily for him,  _ he missed. _

Assimilating that bastard’s soul was a great moment of revenge, and he’d enjoyed every second of it. That was for sure. But Ethari had escaped, and so had all of the brats. This was not how he had wanted this day to go, not at all. He wouldn’t even have minded too much if Callum was the one he managed to get, but he managed to let both of them slip between his fingers. Those brats couldn’t hide from him forever, he would get Rayla’s soul and then maybe his plan would finally be unstoppable.

But why wasn’t it already unstoppable, you may ask? Callum. That brat Callum. After that first battle they had, Aaravos realized that there really was someone in the world that was more powerful than him. Thankfully, Callum didn’t seem to understand just exactly what that meant. That night when they’d fought, Aaravos never lost focus.

Aaravos never missed those corrosion shots. They had hit their target that night, but nothing had happened to Callum.

To be immune to his powers… it was unheard of. Just what  _ was  _ Callum, anyways? He wanted to find out, desperately. That’s why he’d offered to train the boy instead of kill him. Perhaps if he were to get Callum on his side, somehow, then his plan would be fool-proof. But as long as that kid was fighting to stop him, there was never going to be a guarantee of success. That was the issue, because he definitely didn’t plan on giving up on his ambitions.

Callum had accused Aaravos of missing his corrosion shots the night they fought, meaning he didn’t know that he was immune. This was a good advantage. He could still very much threaten him or anyone else with a horrendous way to die if he needed to. He supposed that the boy would find out about his immunity eventually, if they were to keep clashing like this without either side advancing. Aaravos hoped it wouldn’t be this way- he had things to do, plans to go through with. He couldn’t keep playing this ridiculous game. It had been fun when it was just Rayla he had to worry about, but now Callum posed more of a threat than the girl did. She was currently powering Callum’s immense powers, and if he was successful, Aaravos could turn that reality around.

He would succeed. He wouldn’t leave any room for error in his own plans. He knew what he wanted and he was going to get it, no matter what. But for now, the main problem he had was this shoulder wound. He needed to patch himself out before the blood loss made him pass out, and he was running out of viable options.

Grunting, he turned himself around and started walking back in the direction of the neighborhood. The local police and firefighting services would be all over that flaming house soon enough, he just had to get back to a safe place before a crowd gathered. Hopefully he could get this damn blood trail to stop feeding itself as well. Was his grip on the wound not firm enough? Just what kind of blade had Runaan got him with?

Viren. Viren, his only loyal subject in this cursed town. He could loop back to his house and get himself treated there. Once he was patched up, he was going to hunt those damn Moonshadows until he took every last one of their souls- and he was going to make it  _ slow.  _ Only the best for the worst.

“Viren.” Aaravos called bluntly into his phone once he’d gotten it out. The whole corroded-zombie thing only did so much, whoever he corroded still knew everything they’d already known in life. It was only the morality that was lost, and replaced with blind loyalty. “Do you, perhaps, have a med kit in your house? I’m going to need it as soon as I get there.”

“What happened?” Viren’s concerned voice came from the other side. “Your plan… they ruined it, didn’t they? I was foolish to think that my daughter deserved to be sparred. They’ve foiled you again, and now you’re hurt as well. I should have come with you!”

“Slow your ranting, Viren.” Aaravos interrupted, speaking aloud. He’s turned the phone to speaker mode due to his lack of hands. “It’s simply a minor bump in the road. Besides, it wasn’t all terrible. I’ve managed to put one of them down for good.”

Aaravos could practically hear the venomous smile from the other side of the phone. “Oh, have you? I can’t imagine how satisfying that must have been. You’ll have to enlighten me with the tale. How far out are you from my home?”

“Not sure.” Aaravos grunted with effort. “I had to flee into the forest before the local enforcement showed. I can’t gauge how far I went in. I should be there soon, depending on how fast I can move. But we’ll have to be quick, this isn’t the end of my plan. I’m getting tired of this little game we’ve been playing for so long. It’s time I properly move my pieces on the chessboard.”

* * *

The wound was annoyingly deep- clear in its intent to kill. How unlucky that it failed its mission. Viren was busy patching up the gaping hole in Aaravos’s shoulder, while the latter schemed in his head. His current mood was absolutely murderous, and he could hear those damn soul fragments in him celebrating a silent victory. They think that he would stop just because he’d gotten hurt once? Pathetic. He hoped those fragments knew he’d allowed for Runaan to join them. If they didn’t they’d find out soon enough.

This city was a disgrace to him and everything he was working for. None of its inhabitants deserved to live in peace like they did now. He was going to take proper control of this embarrassment of a place, and then people would know true fear. For the longest time, he’d been trying to advance his plans in the dark, going relatively unnoticed by the majority of the world. Clearly, this tactic was getting him nowhere, and he was tired of wasting time. If publicity was the ticket to success, then it was a risk he was going to take.

“Which one of them did you manage to destroy?” Viren asked lightly, putting more padding on the wound.

“Runaan.” Aaravos said simply. “One of the biggest thorns in my side. He was once a good and valued friend, a long time ago. Unfortunate that it led to this. If he’d just fallen in line when I told him of my plans, we would have still been great friends. All of them, really. I wouldn’t have seen any reason to cull them if they hadn’t defied me.” He frowned, remembering back to the start of it all. “I was foolish back then. Thinking that having friends was possible. I don’t need to have friends in the world I wish to make. There will only be me, and those below me.”

“As it should be.” Viren agreed without question.

Aaravos frowned at this, despite himself. There was no interesting conversation to be had with the man treating him now. A true con of corroding someone, was that there was no fun to be had anymore. He could no longer discuss different viewpoints and then bully the opposing party into getting back in line. He’d been so used to having at least one person to shoot the shit with, but there wasn’t any room for such relationships now.

He had to shake himself from these ridiculous thoughts. Why did any of this matter, anyway? It must’ve been the work of those damn fragments, playing up the little weakness he had left in him. Never again.

“I think we should start with the local enforcement.” Aaravos said aloud suddenly. “It’s really the only option. Take control of the force and no one can hope to fight back.”

“Us?” Viren asked curiously. “I didn’t think I was coming along. Wouldn’t I only get in your way, my lord?”

“Not if you listen to every instruction I give you.” Aaravos said simply. “I might need you there with me if my plans go a bit south. After today, I can’t find it in my heart to think my plans will go perfectly anymore. You being there will help, trust me.”

Viren dipped his head. “I would be honored to fight by your side, my lord. Tell me what to do and I will follow it without question.”

Aaravos smiled venomously. “Good. Here’s the plan, my little lab rat.”

* * *

“Something’s wrong.”

There was a terrible dread hanging in the air around them, despite being more or less safe. Callum just couldn’t shake the feeling that something terrible was happening somewhere, most likely in Katolis. And still with no response from his aunt or any of the other members of the Moonshadows, he was beginning to panic and fear the worst.

“Callum, listen to me.” Rayla’s soft voice came from beside him. “We’re safe here. Nothing should come to get us here. Do you understand?”

Callum shook his head, brushing her off. “It’s not about us, Rayla. The wrong feeling. I know we’re far away from the danger but there are some of us that might not be. We still haven’t heard back from our parental figures and adult friends, and I’m pretty sure that Aaravos is incredibly pissed after we escaped him. What if… what if they’re not…”

“Don’t.” Rayla interrupted firmly. “We cannot think of the worst case scenarios now. Aaravos can cry and throw a tantrum all he wants, but I still believe that the rest of them are alive. They have to be. Our situation isn’t hopeless.”

He sighed. “I guess… I just can’t shake this awful feeling. I can feel it in my heart, you know? There’s something happening now in the world that just isn’t right. And I’m terrified of what it could be.”

“I know we have to return to our responsibilities soon, but for now, none of that matters.” Rayla said, grabbing his shoulders lightly. “We’re just kids, Callum, we don’t deserve to have to take care of any of this. Can’t we just enjoy being teenagers for a little while longer, teenagers in the presence of each other’s… um…”

Callum offered her a small smile. “Yeah, I get it. But you know me, I get pretty anxious sometimes. I’m not trying to push you away for this, it’s just that once my mind gets a hold on something that worries me, it’s hard to let go of it.”

“I understand.” Rayla said softly, laying a hand on his cheek. “I wish I could help you more, to be able to distract you one-hundred percent from those nasty thoughts and feelings, but I don’t think I can…”

“Well.” Callum choked out, a blush forming on his cheeks. “After our little confession party, there might be a way to distract me…”

Rayla grinned at him deviously when she figured out the implication of his words. “Oh? Is that so, huh?” She said teasingly, pushing Callum over on the bed and crawling on top of him. “I believe that I suddenly have an extra power now. Using my womanly charms to get you to do whatever I want? I know just what to do…”

Callum gulped, completely overwhelmed by Rayla’s complete disregard for personal space. She was leaning her head closer and closer to his, her eyes flicking down to his lips multiple times before returning to meet his own. He felt his eyes fluttering shut, anticipating what he thought was coming next.

And then one of the bed pillows smacked him on the top of his head.

_ Oh, was that how it was going to be, huh? _

“Alright, that’s it!” Callum hollered, shoving Rayla gently away from him and grabbing a pillow for himself. “If it's a war you wanted, it's a war you're getting!”

Cue the two goofballs smacking each other around with their respective pillows for around ten minutes. The pillows were old, which was something they'd forgotten about, because about halfway through the battle feathers started exploding out of their weapons. For a moment, both of them stopped, looking at each other with ‘oh crap’ faces, before they shrugged off the shock and continued on their merry way.

“You know, when I left you two idiots to your own devices for a few hours, I was not expecting to come back to… this.” Came Claudia’s voice from the doorway.

The two younger teens nearly jumped out of their skins- neither of them had heard Claudia come in, or come back to the house for that matter.

“Uh, how long were you standing there?” Callum asked awkwardly.

“A few minutes. You owe me big time that I didn’t call everyone else over to witness your dumpster fire of a pillow fight. What exactly happened when I was gone, may I ask?”

“Well…”

“We made up like you asked.” Rayla cut in, slapping a hand over his mouth. “And then we passed out because neither of us slept the night before. Callum was just helping me distract myself from… you know. We’re still kids, after all.”

Claudia looked like she didn’t necessarily believe Rayla was telling the full truth, but at the mention of Runaan, she clearly didn’t want to press anything. She shrugged, turning around and leaving the two alone again without another word. Callum stared at Rayla quizzically.

“Why didn’t you tell her we… you know?”

“You mean to tell me you would knowingly submit to Claudia’s endless teasing about how dense we were about each other’s feelings?” Rayla asked him with an eyebrow raised. “I know she’s your long time friend and all, but I for one don’t want to take that sitting down. Plus, it was sort of our own private conversation, wasn’t it? We can tell her and everyone else later when we see fit. There’s no time limit on these sorts of things.”

“Fair point.” Callum said with a sigh, moving to start picking up the feathers that now littered the floor. “Why did we even continue that pillow fight? Now we just have a giant mess we need to clean up.”

“In more ways than one.” Rayla joked smugly, joining him on the floor and picking up stray feathers.

He rolled his eyes. “Yeah. It seems like all we’ll be doing for the foreseeable future is cleaning up messes. All we can really do is hope we can avoid massive burnouts.”

Rayla nodded gently. “Feeling any better?”

Callum shrugged. “I suppose the distraction did help. But I can’t bring myself to simply forget about all of the things we left on open ends when we left. We have to go back eventually, you know. Katolis is our home, and I don’t think Aaravos will be satisfied with just the one city if he can help it. Knowing that he’s out there, and knowing what he plans to do… I can’t just sit back and let someone else take care of it. Lujanne told me earlier that I had that choice, but I’m realizing now that I never had a choice to begin with.”

“So you have morals. That’s good!” Rayla replied with a firm tone. “There’s nothing wrong with entertaining the idea of what if you’d stayed neutral and let someone else take care of the problem. You’re stressed about it, I’m stressed about it, thoughts like those are normal. They don’t make you any less of a good person, Callum. Please remember that.”

Callum closed his eyes in acknowledgement. “Of course. You’re just looking out for me, and I really appreciate it.”

“Callum? Rayla?” Claudia’s voice called from down the hall. “Um, you might want to come over here and look at this. It really just isn’t getting any better for us.”

That made the two of them freeze up in worry. They quickly rushed to where Claudia and the other teens were, in the living room, with a news program on the TV.

_ “Earlier today, neighboring cities and towns around the city of Katolis found that the latter city had suddenly gone quiet, with all communication in and out of the city seemingly stopping. Worried family members began to take to the internet, asking around on various social media outlets, wondering what had happened to their loved ones and friends in the vicinity of Katolis. The sudden blackout prompted the authorities of other cities to grow suspicious, and eventually the news of the strange occurrence made its way to the top. Military forces were deployed out into the city, only for those troops to go silent as well- but not without revealing some shocking information first.” _

_ “Other military personnel, who were in charge of communications between the sent troops and the home base, recall that the troops were reporting a suspicious man in the midst of a city that seemed to be in its own kind of martial law. The reports of this strange man told that he was not looking for any conflict with the troops, and that he was only looking to hunt down and neutralize members of a group he referred to as the ‘Moonshadows’. When the troops told him to stand down, the officers on the other end were met with horrified screams and within a matter of minutes, every group sent into the city had been silenced. Officials say that they’re unsure of what happened in those fateful minutes, but they’re regrouping now and figuring out what move to make next. _

_ If there is anyone in Katolis watching this news report now and has access to a phone line or any type of communication, please, the world desperately wants to know what’s going on in your city as we speak. If you have any information on the identity of the strange man, or anything else, we ask that you pass it on to the military as a tip.” _

“Oh my god.” Rayla breathed out, completely horrified.

“Dammit!” Callum hollered, clenching his fists together. “I knew I shouldn’t have left the damn city! I should’ve stayed and gotten rid of that bastard when I had the chance! Now he’s gone public and everyone is in danger!”

“Callum, it’s not your fault.” Rayla tried, squeezing his hand. “We had no idea he would do something like this.”

“That’s not the point!” He shouted, yanking his hand away. “If Aaravos has taken control of the whole city, who’s to say that he hasn’t already killed some of the other adults! He probably zombified the whole police force! No one’s there to stop him!”

“Well, you’re right about that last part.” Came a familiar voice, along with the sound of the front door slamming shut. The group of teenagers gaped in shock as Ethari came stepping into the living room, accompanied by Janai, Kazi, Zubeia, and Amaya.

“Hello kids. Glad to see that you’re all safe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 more chapters left in part 1. Yall aren't ready.
> 
> Also I started a new AU earlier in the week, it's definitely less time-consuming than SOS is, and it's more for fun instead of telling an actual story, so ye. If I'm not updating this I'm probably updating that one.
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> (Side note I post stuff about SOS on my Tumblr that I don't talk about on here, so if you want some extra info/lore you should look there :D)


	24. Midna's Sacrifice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the beginning of the end. OF PART 1-
> 
> You might notice that this chapter is long as FUCK. This one kinda ran away with me not gonna lie. Bear with it
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

One of the first things Callum found his mind focusing on was the question of  _ how did the adults know they were here? _ He could think of one potential answer, but before that thought could even properly cross his mind, the more dominant thought of  _ Holy shit Amaya’s alive, everyone else is alive, they’re not dead, Aaravos didn’t get to them, they’re all okay  _ came barreling right into the forefront of his mind. Before he knew what was happening, his body was making the decisions for him, and his legs started propelling the rest of him quickly forward until he landed securely in his aunt’s arms with a sniffle. He definitely hadn’t planned to start bawling like a little baby in his aunt’s arms, especially in front of his friends, but little did he know that none of them actually cared.

While he was busy being bear-hugged by Amaya, Ezran ran into their hug pile a few moments after, while Rayla did the same with Ethari. Zym ran to his mother, silent as always, but for the most part there were a lot of tears to be had. Claudia, who had no one to really go to, opted to introduce Soren to Janai and Kazi, who seemed a bit out of their element faced with the emotional dumpster fire that was happening in front of them. For a moment, all of the bad things in the world were being drowned out by the sheer relief that everyone was okay, and that no one else had been lost.

But there was still the death of Runaan.

“Ethari…” Callum called feebly, eyes irritated and sore from the little bout of crying he had. “You and Runaan… you two risked your lives to let me escape and I shouldn’t have listened to you. I should have stayed and let you two escape, and now… now Runaan’s…”

Ethari gave him an unreadable look, releasing Rayla from his embrace to walk over to the boy and place a hand on his shoulder. “Callum.” He said softly, his eyes soft but his mouth set in an upset grimace. “Runaan and I knew what we were doing when we told you to run. I know you could’ve held your own against Aaravos, but that wasn’t the point. As adults, we knew full well that it wasn’t in our morals to let a child fight in place of ourselves, who have been chasing after this man and training to combat him for years. There was never going to be an easy choice. We decided to risk it anyways. Our actions are not to be blamed on you, not now, not ever. We told you to protect Rayla, and you have done so without question. That’s all I could ever hope for.”

Callum looked away with narrowed eyes. “You say I’ve protected Rayla, but I fail to see how I’ve done so. Protecting Rayla would’ve been protecting the two of you from Aaravos’s magic. She’s already lost one set of parents, and now she’s lost half of another because I chose to run instead of fight. Even after the reassurances of everyone here, I still don’t understand how you don’t blame me for this.”

“Because I understood Runaan more than anyone else.” Ethari replied simply. “I know the two of you got off on a rocky start, and were more or less tolerant of each other for the weeks after, but that didn’t truly reflect his thoughts of you. Admitting to his thoughts was one of his struggles, but I know that he considered you a good kid, and someone worth protecting with his life. I feel the same way. And it’s not just because if Aaravos got a hold of your powers, it would be over for everyone. Runaan may have cited that as his reason to be protective of you if you’d ever asked, but he saw you as more than a chess piece on the playing board. We all do. But you shouldn’t feel guilty for our feelings towards you.”

“I’m sorry.” Callum mumbled, still not having the courage to look Ethari in the eye.

“I know you are.” Ethari responded, offering him a small smile. “But you shouldn’t be. Our choice, our mess. The only ones that should have to deal with the fallout are the ones who made the choice. You needn’t worry about taking the blame for this. I promise.”

Callum could only nod in response, not quite convinced by Ethari’s speech. He shot a remorseful glance at Rayla, who was watching with teary eyes, before turning back around and burying himself back into Amaya’s embrace.

“I thought you guys hadn’t escaped.” His voice was small and terrified.

_ “Ethari came to get us all the moment he was able to. I would’ve had no idea what was going on if he hadn’t come breaking through the front door. I had no idea where he was going to take me, so I remembered to grab Bait before we fled the house. I wasn’t sure how long we’d be gone.”  _ Amaya signed, pointing to the dog in question, who was now being paraded around in Ezran’s arms with glee.

“I should’ve come to warn you before I let Soren drive us away.” Callum rebutted with a frown. “I texted you, but I guess you guys didn’t bother to check your phones during all of the hysteria. I still don’t think that was enough on my part though…”

_ “You’re okay, Callum.”  _ Amaya replied firmly.  _ “Everything worked out fine for the most part. Plus, I even got to meet Ms. Janai over there properly. I remembered that she was that cute-butt looking woman from the diner we went to that one time. How come you never bothered to introduce me when you met her yourself?” _

Callum’s cheeks flamed up. “T-that was hardly on my list of priorities, Aunt Amaya.”

Amaya laughed at him with her eyes.  _ “Oh, don’t worry about it. I probably made a better first impression on her alone than with your help, anyways.”  _ She paused, her eyes scanning him thoroughly.  _ “You’re dirty. And you look exhausted. Have you even slept today?” _

“Well, I did have a nap for a couple of hours…” Callum began nervously. “...after staying up the entire night training with Lujanne.”

Amaya gave him a death glare, her signing becoming faster.  _ “Off to bed, now. Or you can shower first. Your choice. You’re going to do these things either way, just pick an order.” _

“Yes ma'am.” Callum said quickly, rushing off down the hall to fulfill his aunt’s orders.

“Wow, some days he listens to you more than he listens to me.” Rayla remarked in a deadpan voice, her body still mostly stuck in the safety of Ethari’s embrace.

Amaya turned to her with a soft smile, signaling at Kazi for them to come over and help translate now that Callum was gone and Ezran was busy playing with Bait.

_ “It’s good to see you safe and sound, Rayla. I’m sorry about Runaan, though. It’s never easy to lose a family member, I should know. If you ever need another shoulder to cry on, don’t hesitate to look to me. I’ve seen what this type of grief can do to children.” _

Rayla nodded, body language exhausted. “About that…” She mumbled, looking at the rest of the group, who’d more or less settled down now and were simply watching them. “Do you think I could talk to you and Ethari privately about the last day and a half? There’s… a lot of things on my mind that I want to discuss.

_ “I wouldn’t be able to respond to anything during that discussion unless you gave me a piece of paper and something to write with, you know.” _

“I have my phone.” Rayla replied. “You can type in the notes app. But I’m serious when I say I want this to be a more private discussion. I just don’t have the energy to talk about it to everyone at once.”

Ethari nodded, and so did Amaya. With that cleared up, the three of them walked off to the master bedroom to have their private discussion.

“Well, perhaps we should go across to Lujanne’s. We can plan our next course of action there with her present. We’ll need all the help we can get at this point.” Janai said to the remaining members.

“Um, I guess I could stay with Ezran and Zym here. I don’t think I should necessarily be included in all of this, I think I would just get in everyone’s way…” Soren piped up, wringing his hands together.

“Nonsense.” Janai said, shaking her head. “Claudia’s told me of your own soul power. And you helped everyone escape to safety. Whether you like it or not, you’re a part of us now. You belong here.”

Soren smiled happily under Janai’s praises. “Alright, if you’ll have me, then I accept!” His expression darkened a bit suddenly. “Aaravos took my father’s free will right under my nose. Whatever plans we have next, I want to be there to watch him fall. For what he’s done to everyone.”

The remaining Moonshadow adults seemed a bit disturbed by how fast his mood had changed, but nodded nonetheless as the group exited, leaving Ezran and Zym behind to play with Bait. They figured they’d be fine, considering there were still others in the house. Plus, if needed, they were only a street away.

* * *

“So, what’s this all about?” Ethari asked.

The three of them were set in a row on the side of the bed, having entered into the master bedroom with the door shut to have their private conversation. Amaya moved her head in accordance with Ethari’s question as Rayla unlocked her phone and gave it to her with the notes app opened.

“Well…” Rayla started nervously. “A lot has happened in the past twenty-four hours that you guys aren’t aware of. And, considering that you two are probably the first people I should tell, um… here goes nothing I guess. Callum and I are dating.”

“Ah.” Ethari said, blinking. “Not surprised, really. With how close you two have gotten so fast, I thought you would’ve told me something like this sooner.”

Amaya nodded, handing back Rayla’s phone to her for her to read her response.

_ “That boy practically had to be surgically removed from your side. I’m going to assume that you two didn’t do anything… unsafe while you were alone.” _

Rayla’s face flared up with heat. “What?! No! Of course not! We’re still kids! And even if we had, I was still crying my eyes out about Runaan, so it wouldn’t have even been good-” And she was stopping herself there.

Amaya raised an eyebrow as Ethari chuckled under his breath.

“You’re not exactly helping your case here, Little Ray.”

Rayla’s face grew even redder. “Oh my god, just stop. This wasn’t what I called you two in here for. As the designated parental figures between the two of us, I thought it’d be fair of me to tell you guys the change in mine and Callum’s relationship dynamic, but I’ve changed my mind if you’re going to respond like this.”

Ethari chuckled again. “Relax, Rayla. It’s a parent’s natural job to embarrass their child as much as possible, after all. I’m assuming we’re the first to be told about this development?”

Rayla nodded. “I would’ve liked for Callum to be here for this as well, but I think he would’ve died of sheer embarrassment.”

_ “Oh, he definitely would’ve.” _

“My point exactly.”

“Is that all you wanted to talk about, then?” Ethari asked. “Because as your designated parental figure, you never needed to ask for permission on who to love. And Callum is a good kid. Even if I had wanted you to ask for permission, I would’ve approved in a heartbeat.”

_ “Same with me. I might not know you as well as Ethari knows Callum, but you’ve done a lot for the boy and it’s all been positive. All of the things he’s gone through in his life, they seem to bother him less when he’s around you. All I could ever want is for my sister’s kids to be happy, and you’re doing a damn good job helping Callum to learn that skill. I can’t thank you enough.” _

Rayla frowned, her gaze falling to the floor. “I hurt him in the past twenty-four hours too. On the news, they were reporting about a murder. It was the back of our burned house, and they were talking about Runaan. I got so caught up in my whirlwind of emotions that I snapped at him and blamed him for his death. I didn’t even let him defend himself before I ran off. We’ve since made up, obviously, but I still can’t help but feel awful for it.”

“Oh, Rayla.” Ethari sighed, pulling her to him again. “We all make mistakes. I know how awful it feels to hurt the one you love, but it seems like Callum’s more or less forgiven you already.”

_ “Agreed. I’m sure it didn’t help for you to do that, considering he seems very dead set on continuing to blame himself for Runaan, but I can tell how awful you feel about it. If you two talked it out, and Callum forgave you, then it’s not my place to dictate what he should’ve done based on my bias. One mistake doesn’t make you a monster. Though I will ask that you try not to do something like that to him ever again.” _

“I swear on my life.” Rayla replied quickly. “And if I did end up doing something that horrible again, I would punish myself for it before you could even lift a finger. Callum doesn’t deserve anymore anguish.”

_ “I’m glad you agree, but the whole ‘I’ll punish myself before you could lift a finger’ thing is worrying. You don’t have to take it that far, Rayla. That sounds like something Callum would have said months ago, and it’s scary. Please don’t keep that mindset.” _

“I… I won’t.” Rayla promised hesitantly. She was clearly still having second thoughts.

The door to the master bedroom opened suddenly, revealing Callum, who’d changed his clothes, and his hair was still damp. All of the dirt had been washed away from the previous night’s training. He stopped, taking in the sight before him.

“Um… did I interrupt something?”

“Nope!” Rayla replied quickly. “We were just finishing up! It’s fine!”

“Rayla here was filling us in about how you two are now dating.” Ethari replied truthfully, completely going against what Rayla was going for.

“You  _ WHAT?!” _

“They’re our acting parents, Callum, I thought it’d be good to tell them!”

Callum let out a shaky breath, clasping his hands together behind his back. “So… um… what’s the consensus on us?”

“Like I told Rayla.” Ethari started. “You’re a good kid, and I don’t think I could ask for anyone better. And to be honest, I thought you two might have started dating weeks ago, but you proved me wrong. It wasn’t too much of a shock to me when Rayla finally told me.”

_ “You know that I couldn’t hope to argue with you on who you fall in love with, Callum. If she makes you happy, then that’s all I could ask for. The only way I would even think to disapprove is if you started dating someone with the personality and morals of Aaravos, or someone else equally horrendous.” _

Callum snorted. “Yeah, no, I get it. I’d also disown myself if I found myself in a relationship with the equivalent of female, teenaged Aaravos.”

“WHAT?!”

* * *

“Alright everyone.” Janai began, addressing everyone who sat at the table with her. “We don’t know a lot about the situation in Katolis at the current moment, and we’re going to be severely outmatched no matter what we do. I hope that everyone here knows this and is still choosing to fight back anyways.”

The group nodded.

“Good. All we can do now is discuss the best possible approach that would result in the least amount of failures on our end. We’ll have to take two cars back into the city to fit us all, but I think it would be best to leave all of the stuff we packed here in Duren. We have no idea when we’ll be back, if any of us will be back. Now that Aaravos has gone public with his plans, it’s only a matter of time before there’s absolutely no hope of stopping him. Callum said that he might have completely taken over the Katolis police force by now, meaning that he has weapons, and a small army to fight for him. I think it would be best to incapacitate these puppets first and then get to Aaravos himself, just on the off chance he didn’t corrode them all and instead fear-bullied them into following his orders.The less casualties we can cause, the better. Then there’s the subject of dealing with Soren and Claudia’s father. Aaravos will most definitely use him as a bargaining chip if he gets into a tough spot. We, unfortunately, have to remember that their father is already too far gone, but for the sake of who he is, I think we should try to avoid killing him if it’s possible. Thoughts?”

“We can try a direct approach, or a stealth approach.” Zubeia weighed in. “Keep in mind that we have no idea where Aaravos is camping in the city, and if we go in there guns blazing we might not even make it to him- meaning we could be overwhelmed and killed, or he could take that time to escape while we’re distracted.”

“I don’t think Aaravos would choose to flee when the one thing he’s after would be right there with us.” Claudia pitched, to the horror of the adults.

“Are you implying we would bring Rayla back?!” Zubeia asked.

Claudia sighed, shaking her head. “You adults are ridiculous if you think Rayla or Callum are going to obey being told to stay here while the rest of us go off to most likely die. Rayla might be scared of him in general, but not enough to just be fine with sitting back and letting anyone else risk their lives for her. And Callum is about ready to strangle the life out of the man with his bare hands. Plus, he’s got the best chance of actually succeeding in this endeavor. Always has, always will. He hates that this responsibility fell on him but he’s long since accepted it and is ready to carry through. He’s strong and powerful. I’d bet that Callum could do a good job of protecting us while he fights at the same time. His power combined with Lujanne’s illusions might be the saving grace we need.”

“That is an interesting concept.” Lujanne replied thoughtfully. “Though there is an extra aspect to Callum’s powers than we witnessed training last night. In a bout of extreme emotion, he was somehow able to fuse with Rayla’s soul orb that he uses. His power only grew stronger with this fusion, and he was able to scream out blasts of sound like a lion’s roar. We tried to get him to do this fusion again, with no luck. But it’s definitely there. In terms of using my illusions in a team with Callum’s powers, it would work to a fault. The more illusions I create, the less control I have over each one. I could create dozens of Callum clones, and fake his sound blasts with them, but they would vanish with a single hit from an opponent. And taking into consideration the guns Aaravos’s little puppet army might have, I’m unsure of how well it would work out.”

The group had collectively forgotten about the threat of guns. That made going back to Katolis a lot more dangerous.

“I’ve seen Callum be able to deflect airborne attacks with his own soundwaves. We might have to employ him to have some sort of anti-bullet field of noise when we go in. It’s our best option.” Claudia pointed out.

“I still think we should try a stealthy approach at first, then resort to what we need to if that doesn’t go completely to plan.”

“Are we uh, planning on doing this right after we finish discussing the plan?” Soren piped up, uncertain. “I know it’d probably be best to go back and attack as soon as possible, but at the same time, maybe we should wait until tomorrow? Where everyone’s gotten proper sleep, and a clearer head?”

“That’s…” Janai frowned. “Actually a good point. Aaravos doesn’t know we all escaped the city yet, it might be worth waiting just to see if he might exhaust some of his forces turning Katolis upside-down trying to find us to no avail.”

“We aren’t bringing the youngest kids.” Zubeia mentioned. “Absolutely no way in hell. Ezran and Zym are staying as far away from this as possible. Plus the dog, but that was a given. But we need someone to stay with them, they shouldn’t be allowed to their own devices.”

“I’ll stay behind.” Kazi offered. “I don’t exactly have a lot of experience with fighting, and I ‘m mostly redundant in the way of translating Miss Amaya’s ASL when Callum’s there. Plus, I don’t know how much signing anyone would be doing in the middle of a fight.” They explained.

“Makes sense.” Janai said, nodding. “I trust that you’ll be able to keep the kids safe here… So it’s decided, then? Tomorrow morning, we will travel back to Katolis to make our last stand. No matter what happens tomorrow, we’ll know that we chose to do the right thing. Better to try and stop Aaravos and fail than to not try at all and just let him win.”

* * *

The ride in the car was silent and full of tension. The sky was still dark, but the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon, and it was moving fast. The group knew that they most likely wouldn’t make it back fast enough to use the cover of the morning darkness, but it was still a little disheartening to see that it would be certain that they couldn’t use it. Callum was in the car with Soren, Claudia, Rayla, and Lujanne. Ethari, Amaya, Janai, and Zubeia were in the car that was directly in front of them. They’d insisted on being the first line of defense, even in the drive back to the city.

They were nearly there now. Callum was getting more and more nervous by the minute. In truth, he was nearly ecstatic that he was going to have the chance to properly kick Aaravos’s ass for once, but at the same time, he was terrified that something was going to go horribly wrong. That feeling of dread in the atmosphere still hung around him, almost as a warning sign. It scared him to death. And he was terrified for Rayla’s safety, because even he’d tried to convince her to stay with Ezran and Zym to no avail.

“Callum.” Rayla whispered to him suddenly, making sure to be as quiet as possible. “I have something to tell you. It might be important.”

Callum raised an eyebrow, moving his head in a motion for her to continue.

“When Aaravos set my home on fire, do you remember when I ran upstairs in complete disregard for the growing flames? I was going up to my room to grab something. I wanted to take it because I didn’t want to leave them behind for someone to find in the rubble.” She continued, pulling a small plastic jar out of her hoodie pocket.

Callum blinked, his jaw dropping just a bit as he recognized the contents inside. Perhaps seven or eight other soul orbs, all packed together inside the container. He looked back up at her in question.

“Do you remember the night we met?” Rayla asked softly. “You witnessed me making one of my soul orbs. That wasn’t the only time I’ve done so. I could have sworn I mentioned at some point that I had a collection of extras. I took them with me when we fled, because I don’t know how they’d react to being burned in flames, and I didn’t want anyone else finding them if they were to survive. These are pieces of my soul, and I wouldn’t want anyone but you holding one in the palm of your hands.”

Callum recognized the sentiment in the back of his brain, but he was more confused on where his girlfriend was going with this.

“I’m… unsure what would happen if you were to use more than one of these with your powers.” Rayla admitted quietly. “But I trust you with these more than anyone else. This might be the final battle, and I want you to have these as a backup if things go south.”

Callum stared down at the possible immense power that was currently being offered to him. He stared, and he stared, and he finally shook his head furiously. “No.” He stated firmly. “No, no I can’t take these. The possibility of even more power is terrifying. You shouldn’t have brought these along with us, Rayla. You should’ve left them back at Lujanne’s. This is a horrible risk, what if something happens and Aaravos gets his hands on these?”

“But-” Rayla began.

“Brace yourselves, everyone.” Lujanne interrupted suddenly from the front passenger seat. “We’re here.”

Callum focused, carefully pushing back the container of soul orbs into Rayla’s hands. He watched intently as the car in front of them pulled into the very familiar territory of Katolis, only to brake very suddenly. Soren yelped, slamming on the brakes himself before seeing what the problem was.

A barricade. A barricade of zombified police officers, military troops, and in front of them all was Viren, looking smugly as the Moonshadows.

“Lord Aaravos thought you might come back!” He called gleefully from his place. “We’ve spent the whole night trying to find you traitorous Moonshadows, only to agree that you must have escaped! You’re all so incredibly foolish for coming back!”

“Dad.” Claudia whispered, tone sorrowful.

Callum growled, nearly ripping off his seatbelt and storming out of the car alone, against everyone else’s wishes. He felt his bonded soul orb activate immediately and orbit around him with a fury he hadn’t known before as she stalked right up to Viren and his little army of zombies.

“Alright, I’ve had it! You’re all not who I’m here for, so if you turn around and surrender now, I won’t blast you all into oblivion! But if you’re going to stand in my way, then I can’t promise that any of you are going to make it out of this unharmed!” He hollered.

Viren shook his head. “Such a rude thing to say, Callum. Where did your manners go? Lord Aaravos would be thrilled to see you, I’m sure, but I can’t let you go to him when you’re this powerful. I’m going to have to cripple you a bit first, if you don’t mind.”

“I very much do mind!” He roared, beginnings of sound blasts forming in his hands. “Last chance!”

Viren frowned at him, sighing heavily. “I cannot allow that.” He turned to his little army, nodding his head at them. “Do what you must to make him compliant. Aaravos wants him alive. The rest you can kill, and make sure to find the girl as well. Aaravos wants her alive.”

And just like that, the chaos began. Callum immediately set up a rotating field of soundwaves to deflect any bullets that might be shot his way, and began firing off as many sound shots as he could. The rest of the Moonshadows exited their cars and joined in the battle as fast as they could, drawing their blades and other weapons they had on hand and charging forward. The zombified army surged forward as well, with some of the army staying behind to try and shoot them down at a long range with no success. The moment they realized guns and bullets weren’t going to work, the rest charged in with their fists as their main weapons. Callum noticed the look of shock on Viren’s face as he realized that his victory wasn’t going to be quick and easy. The coward was beginning to run off.

Not on his watch.

“Viren’s getting away!” Callum screeched, knocking over even more soul zombies. Lujanne was doing as they’d discussed the day before, making fake clones of Callum to confuse and overwhelm the opposing forces.

But before Callum could try to give chase, Claudia and Soren zoomed past him and pursued their father. The rest of the Moonshadows continued to fight, making an effort to slash and destroy all of the guns despite them being useless in the face of Callum’s field of sound. The soul zombies didn’t seem to be affected by their attempts to incapacitate them- they just kept getting back up over and over again despite the hits they were taking. The idea of avoiding casualties was getting weaker and weaker. But at least they seemed to have taken care of all the guns.

“I’m going to find Aaravos!” Callum shouted as the battle continued. “I’ll be able to find him with my Soul Perception. I’m putting an end to this, now! Will everyone be okay over here?”

“Just go, Callum!” Ethari called back, fending off three different zombies at once. “We’ll finish up here as soon as we can, and then we’ll come find you!”

Callum nodded, bolting off to make his way deeper into the city, dodging all of the soul zombies that tried to stop him. He could faintly hear Rayla yelling after him, but what she was yelling at him was lost to his ears as he made it past the hordes of enemies and continued his mad dash into the deeper parts of Katolis, hell-bent on finding Aaravos if it was the last thing he would do.

* * *

“Dad! STOP!” Claudia yelled harshly as she and Soren continued to chase him. “STOP!”

“Not a chance!” Viren called back. “You’re my enemies now, no matter if you’re my children! You’ve come to kill me, and I will not fail in my devotion to Lord Aaravos!”

Soren and Claudia exchanged pained looks as they ran side by side, chasing after their father, a man who was now very clearly beyond saving. Nothing they could do would be able to bring him back, would it? This was horrible soul magic that had turned Viren into this loyal zombie, what could they hope to do to reverse magic?

Claudia knew what she had to do. Soren immediately picked up on her soul’s cries of anguish, and in turn, he realized what she was about to do. He stopped in shock in horror, unable to keep up, as Claudia drew her blade- gifted to her by Janai before they came here- and made one clean shot throwing it right into her father’s retreating back. He cried out in pain as he fell, Claudia now catching up to him with ease. She looked down at his now bleeding body, tears falling down her cheeks, as he looked up at her with pleading and scared eyes. But she shook her head, steeling herself for what she had to do.

“I’m sorry dad. But you’re already gone.” She whispered, her voice wavering.

And with that, she pulled the blade out of his back, aimed, and stabbed it through him again, right where his heart was.

* * *

“So you’ve found me.” It wasn’t a question. He was clearly waiting for Callum here, in the midst of Katolis town center.

The area was a ghost town- all buildings dark and locked up, no people in sight. They were either killed by Aaravos, or hiding in their homes, away from all of the danger and strife. Callum noticed that Aaravos’s hands were glowing green with corrosion fire, a clear sign that neither of them were playing around anymore.

“I’m going to kill you, Aaravos.” Callum said lowly.

“A strong threat, that is.” Aaravos replied simply. “Though we’ll see if you have the backbone to keep that promise.”

And without any more words shared between them, the two powerful forces began to clash. Shots of corrosion and sound flew at each other, the atmosphere of the area filled with the sound of music as Callum kept increasing the volume louder and louder. It was almost like a storm of soul magic, every shot the two made constantly missing as they dodged out of the way of each other’s attacks. It was after a few minutes of this, that Aaravos smirked and began to speak.

“Don’t you ever wonder why your soul is silent, Callum?”

“Shut it, you bastard! I don’t want to hear anything coming from your mouth unless it’s your dying screams!”

Aaravos shook his head sadly, continuing to dodge out of the way of Callum’s sound blasts, but he suddenly began to slow his counter-attacking- only firing off a corrosion shot every once and awhile. “That’s not the right answer, Callum.”

“I don’t care!”

“But you very much should.” Aaravos replied seriously. “Of everything I’ve encountered in my life, you are the most interesting mystery I’ve tasked myself with unraveling. And I think I’ve just about got you all figured out now. Aren’t you curious? There’s more connection between your powers and your silence than you could have ever thought.”

Though Callum knew that this was a trick, a distraction, he felt his mind slowly digesting his words, and getting hooked on the idea of solving his own mystery. “I… I don’t have to listen to you.”

“You don’t have to listen to anyone, Callum.” Aaravos growled darkly. “No one can control you. Your power is far greater than you can believe. Don’t you want to know what you are?”

Callum faltered even more. Aaravos saw his chance.

“Let me  _ SHOW YOU!”  _ He roared, shooting a corrosion blast at Callum out of the blue.

They were too close together. Callum could see the shot fast approaching, but his brain was still computing this. It was going to hit him.  _ It was going to hit him. _

_ “CALLUM!” _

Without warning, Callum felt a hard shove barrel into him on his left side, pushing him out of the danger zone, and also to the ground. He was saved. But not everyone was safe.

There was a quick motion from Aaravos- he had surged forward, his horrible soul powers giving him a sickly green aura, as he sucked the soul out of Callum’s savior with a maniacal laugh.

And then Rayla’s lifeless body crumpled to the ground. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DON'T STOP READING HERE BECAUSE OF THIS CLIFFHANGER YOU HAVE TO TRUST ME OH GOD OH FUCK-
> 
> I'm uploading chapter 25 right after this one because this cliffhanger is too mean don't even worry about it. You'll see why I did what I did.
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> (Side note I post stuff about SOS on my Tumblr that I don't talk about on here, so if you want some extra info/lore you should look there :D)


	25. Best Of Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum couldn’t move. It felt like the entire world had been frozen, All of his noise he’d been making with his soul orb had quieted down the moment he’d been pushed and lost his focus. There was a dead body on the ground next to him. A body that shouldn’t be there, a body he was supposed to protect, a body he’d failed.
> 
> A body he’d loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This part is way shorter than the last, but cut me some slack, this was literally 8k words in under 24 hours, im dying. H
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

Callum couldn’t move. It felt like the entire world had been frozen, All of his noise he’d been making with his soul orb had quieted down the moment he’d been pushed and lost his focus. There was a dead body on the ground next to him. A body that shouldn’t be there, a body he was supposed to protect, a body he’d failed.

A body he’d loved.

He faintly registered the fact that the rest of the Moonshadows were catching up, running over to him yelling all the way, but he couldn’t understand what they were saying. His eyes were trained on Rayla’s body next to him, as well as Aaravos’s hysterically grinning face as the black aura Callum recognized as soul energy began to glow and thicken around his skin. He moved his arms about slightly, watching in amusement as corrosion shots quickly formed on the tips of each finger. He was flaunting his new power right in front of Callum and the rest. A final, horrible taunt to let them know that they’d failed in the worst way possible.

Shock swept through everyone. No one dared to say a word. Eyes were either staring at the body of Rayla, crumpled pitifully on the ground, or they were staring at Aaravos as he continued to mess about with his new powers. No one moved. No one knew how powerful Aaravos was now- if they even moved at all, he could just wipe them out with a look for all they knew. Finally, though, someone broke the silence and spoke.

“How…  _ unfortunate.”  _ Aaravos hissed venomously, his grin never wavering. “But like I’ve been saying all these years, my success would come around no matter what. You’ve lost.”

Silence. Aaravos cackled maniacally again. “You’ve all lost! And now look at you all. Frozen to your spots, scared to even try to attack me now. Everything you’ve worked for has been for nothing!” His laughing stopped and he glared at them. “Take it. Take her body away, out of my sight. Then all of you can leave. My business is with Callum and Callum alone. Once I deal with him, then I’ll come to collect your souls and be done with it. GO!”

Callum could hear them all behind him- shuffling quickly over to Rayla’s body and removing it from the area as fast as they could. He could hear sniffling from some of them as they retreated off to god knows where. He registered faintly that he and Aaravos were alone in the empty town center again.

“Get up.” Aaravos commanded harshly.

“Just do it.” Callum countered from his position on the ground. When Aaravos didn’t reply, he looked up and saw a bit of confusion in his eyes. “I SAID DO IT!” He roared again.

“Do  _ what,  _ young Callum?” Aaravos bit out.

“There’s no point in it anymore.” He mumbled. “You’ve killed her, and now you’ve got her excessive energy powers. There’s not even a fight anymore. Just do it. Just kill me as well. You took Rayla, took her right in front of me. If I couldn’t protect her, then I most definitely can’t protect the world from you. You’ve won.”

Aaravos had the nerve to roll his eyes. “I haven’t won anything yet. I’ve only taken your queen on the chess board. That doesn’t mean I’ve gotten to the checkmate. Get up and fight, Callum.”

Aaravos’s mocking made something in Callum snap, and within the blink of an eye, he was up off the ground and holding Aaravos by his shirt collar. Callum’s eyes turned pure black with the energy of the soul orb as it sank and fused into his skin once again. Aaravos gave him a cocky grin as he wrestled himself out of Callum’s grasp.

“Now that’s what I wanted to see!”

Callum let out multiple yells of concentrated sound at his target, but Aaravos was keen on dodging them all. He kept laughing, and Callum soon realized in the back of his mind that he was refusing to fire off a single corrosion shot. Not a single one. He was just playing with him again. All of this was complete nonsense.

“WHY WON’T YOU JUST TAKE THE SHOT?!” Callum screamed, voice beginning to get raw, as he fired another sound blast and grievously missed. “What’s the point of this nonsense?!”

Aaravos laughed even harder, and Callum took this opportunity to lunge at him. The two were bowled over and tumbled on the ground for a bit, before Callum had him by his shirt collar again. Aaravos’s hysterical laughing gave way to a sly smile.

“I’d already shot you when you were moping on the ground, Callum. I’d also shot you when we’d fought the last time. Notice how neither corrosion shots seem to have registered within your body? I’ve shot you multiple times with my soul corroding magic, and yet here you are, defying me at every turn. I thought taking Rayla’s energy would make me powerful enough t o somehow overcome your immunity, but even she couldn’t beat you. I’ve taken your queen, Callum, but your pawns are completely surrounding my king.” He paused. “While I was figuring out exactly what you are, I found that this may have been a possible outcome after taking Rayla’s soul, but there are no lengths I wouldn’t go to for the chance to succeed. But it seems that luck and fate are just not on my side.”

“So you killed her and she died for nothing.” Callum breathed out miserably, his grip on Aaravos’s shirt tightening further. “YOU KILLED HER FOR NO REASON! YOU WERE GOING TO LOSE NO MATTER WHAT, BECAUSE YOU COULDN’T STOP ME FROM STOPPING YOU, BUT YOU KILLED HER ANYWAYS!”

“You act like you expect me to feel guilty, young Callum.” Aaravos teased mercilessly. “I may not be able to stop you, but I can still try my damn hardest to break your spirit. If I can’t have my flawless victory, then neither can you. It’s as simple as that. But now that that’s all said and done, and it’s out of the way, don’t you want to know why you’re immune? Because I think I can tell you everything. Every single mystery about your soul that’s been chewing away at you for years, I have your answers. Do you care to hear them?”

Callum screamed in frustration and anguish, forcefully shoving Aaravos to the ground and letting go of his shirt. “Talk.” Callum ordered darkly. “Talk, and then I will kill you after. And don’t even try to escape this time. You won’t be so lucky.”

“Very well.” Aaravos said, sitting back. 

“I suppose I should just start with the biggest thing, then. You’ve always had a soul song. Your entire life, you’ve gone thinking that you’re a freak with no soul song, but you’ve been wrong the entire time. You have one. Your soul song is just silence.”

* * *

There were silent tears all around as the rest of the Moonshadows watched helplessly as Ethari sat on his knees next to Rayla’s body. He was holding one of her hands tightly, as if this would wake her, and his frame was hunched over in immense sorrow. He’d lost his entire family in the span of two days- Rayla and Runaan. Both to Aaravos. Always to Aaravos.

But, somehow, there was still hope.

Soren. Soren wasn’t quite sure where the faint signature of Rayla’s soul was coming from, but it was definitely around her body. He didn’t understand how this could be possible- her soul had been sucked into Aaravos’s, if anything he should be able to hear the single fragment left of Rayla crying out back from where they’d fled Aaravos. So why could he hear her soul here?

The sound was faint, and almost drowned out by the collective pain and anguish everyone else’s souls were crying out. But he could still hear it, because something about it was different. For the most part, Soren was surrounded by negatively emotional songs from the souls of his friends, sister, and peers. But this faint sound wasn’t like that. It was desperate, yes, calling out to whoever could hear it, but it was also hopeful. Hopeful and determined. How was this possible?

Soren stepped forward without saying a word, coming to kneel across from Ethari, who had since lost his composure and was sobbing uncontrollably. The faint song of hope was strongest here, but he still didn’t quite understand. There was no life left in Rayla’s body, that was for sure. So it had to be coming from somewhere outside of her body, but still on her person.

Her hoodie pocket.

Soren reached in and pulled out the container of extra soul orbs, gasping as an emotional shock ran through him due to the power of the orbs. They were glowing faintly, but now with the black light he’d seen Callum’s glow with. They were glowing a faint bluish white, all of them were. Souls couldn’t talk in actual English like humans could, but Soren surprisingly found himself able to understand what they were saying, or trying to say.

_ Let us out. _

So he did. And the moment the container’s lid was open, all of the soul orbs flew up and out, furiously circling each other above Rayla’s chest. The faster they spun, the brighter they glowed, and suddenly they all seemed to ram into each other in a flash of brilliant light. In the place of the pieces floated a singular soul, albeit it didn’t look like it was fully complete. Something about its shape seemed to say that there were pieces missing, but it was still a soul, and it had a job to do. It quickly floated downwards into Rayla’s chest, disappearing under her skin, and not a moment later, Rayla’s eyes flew open and she began gasping for air. Soren and Ethari flew back in surprise, before Ethari immediately rushed back to help her sit up and breathe, rubbing her back gently. The rest of the Moonshadows could only stare on in relieved awe.

“...Callum. Callum! Where’s Callum?!” Rayla began frantically, trying to haul herself up, but Ethari gently stopped her.

“Fighting Aaravos.” Ethari said shakily, squeezing her hand. “Aaravos… he killed you, Rayla. You were dead, your soul had been taken because you took the hit for him. But somehow, Soren found your extra soul orbs, and they combined or something, and… you’re alive.” He breathed. “Thank the stars you’re alive.”

Ethari wrapped his arms tightly around her now in a hug, while looking up at Soren with shiny eyes. “You saved my daughter. You saved her, thank you, thank you so much!”

Soren rubbed his arm nervously. “You’re welcome, I guess. I had no idea that would even happen.”

“That’s not the point. Rayla’s alive because of you, Soren. You saved her.”   
  


* * *

“What?” Was all Callum could say to this revelation.

“You heard me.” Aaravos said with an eye roll. “It’s certainly not a normal song, but it’s still a song. But it;s because of this strange case that everything you are can exist. It’s the very reason that I can’t corrode your soul, or assimilate it if I even tried. How can I corrode something that has no real substance? How can I assimilate something that isn’t really there? From the moment you were brought crying into this world, you were destined to be my one true roadblock. And there’s nothing I can do to get rid of you.”

Callum frowned deeply. “That doesn’t explain all of my powers, that just tells me that I am still a freak. Are you trying to tell me every single power I’ve learned I have over the past month or so comes just from the fact my soul song is nothing?”

“Not exactly.” Aaravos continued. “They’re from a combination of your own soul and that soul orb you keep with you at all times. Your song acts as almost a void, taking in everything it can. That’s why you have your first true power, soul perception. Your void of a soul song can bring in the songs of everyone else even if we put up mental blocks. But when you got a hold of that soul orb you always walk around with, it gave your soul the energy to push out outputs as well. You take in an input, your soul distorts it, and then you get a powerful output. That’s how you can even do the rest of the things you’ve been able to do since then.”

“Don’t you get it?” Aaravos asked suddenly, throwing his arms up and out with a spiteful laugh. “You are the most powerful person on this entire planet. If my theories are correct, then that means your ability to take in and put out are limitless. There are no boundaries on what you can do with a soul song like yours, paired with that soul orb. You’re the equivalent of god. This world is pretty much yours, and all you did was be born.”

_ He could do anything with his soul song, huh?  _ “Is that all you have to tell me, then? Are we done here?”

Aaravos dipped his head.

“Good.” Callum spat venomously, his eyes glowing pure black again as he took a menacing step forward. “Because I now know exactly what to do with you.”

* * *

Amidst the massive wave of relief that swept over the group when they realized that Rayla was alive, a chilling thought flashed across Claudia’s mind that made her blood run cold.

_ Callum doesn’t know. Callum still thinks Rayla’s dead. _

Without telling the rest of the group where she was going- not that they noticed, their attention all focused on Rayla’s being still alive- she quickly rushed as fast as she could over to the place where they’d left Callum and Aaravos to fight alone, skidding to a halt on the sidewalk as she did.

“Callum! Where are you?! Rayla’s alive!” Claudia called desperately, but no one was around.

No one, except a single body lying face up on the ground. With horror, Claudia immediately thought the worst, but when she properly looked at it, she realized in shock that it was Aaravos, completely lifeless.

And Callum was nowhere to be seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thus, part 1 comes to a close. I cannot thank you all enough for the support so far. You have all brought this fic to almost 6000 hits in the first half of its life, when I never expected to get to even 200 hits. I usually never like to advertise my own shit because it feels wrong to me. The story isn't over, but just like a season finale, Im going to be taking a little break.
> 
> See you all again in part 2- coming sooner than you think.
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)  
> (Since part 1 is over, please feel free to send me a tumblr ask about the SS AU or anything else you might have to say if you want!)


	26. Blood // Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One year later, in the universe of the Singing Souls.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Sym what the fuck is this. You said you were taking a break. The hell are you doing"
> 
> My anxiety says I can't not do something productive that other people can see for longer than a few days. I felt restless. Didn't feel like my existence was worthwhile if I'm not doing something that people want. So here we go bitches this fic helps distract me from the fact I'm probably going to fail my math class again and I hate myself for it yaaaaay
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

_ One year later… _

_ “Good evening folks, and welcome back to the Worldwide News Network. This might have been the news report everyone’s been waiting for, as today marks one year since the unsolved Katolis blackout incident. I’m sorry to disappoint the masses, but there’s still not been much progress with solving just exactly what happened in the city for those few fateful days. Even a year later, the relief efforts for those families affected by the strange occurrences are still going strong due to the overwhelming support of the rest of the continent. So, in the interest of not leaving everyone hanging with the unfortunate news, I thought we could recap on what’s been happening for the past year. For the most part, investigators seem to believe that there was one man who single-handedly took control of the whole city, somehow turning the local authorities on his side, and brute-forcing his way into power over the rest. When military troops were sent in to try and neutralize this threat, they were somehow turned onto this strange man’s side as well. _

_ Things went quiet again for another day or two while the armed forces figured out a different approach. But when they made their way back into the borders of Katolis, they found that the battle had already been won. The strange man’s body was found lifeless in the city center area, along with several other bodies of the men and women he’d somehow tricked into following him. No one in the entire city has spoken up as to what happened, or who fought against this terrifying force, but with no other information to go off on, the investigators decided that the information was better left unknown. Though they are still accepting tips on the identities of those who took out the threat, the authorities have said countless times that no one would be arrested and charged for it. I suppose that our heroes don’t believe this promise. _

_ Going back more into the recovered bodies, most of them seemed to have died under unknown circumstances. A few were found to have taken deep wounds from sharp objects, such as blades, but the majority seemed to just have died suddenly, as if all of their bodies gave out at once. But the thing about this was that autopsies of multiple bodies showed that nothing wrong could be found with any part of their organs and other systems- so what killed them? Over the year, many conspiracy theories have cropped up across the internet message boards about what could have happened, but there’s one theory that seems more popular than the rest- maybe because the investigators themselves somewhat buy into it. The leading theory of how all of this happened is that it all had to do with souls- yes, you heard me correctly. Centuries of our civilization have gone by, and in the history books there is more than one mention of myths and rumors about a special few among us that have powers the rest of us don’t that’s connected to their soul. And it’s through this possibility that the strange man who’d taken over is believed to have powers that allowed him to pull all of this off. _

_ Now, the concept of souls on a worldwide level is very much confirmed, but at the same time, we know barely anything about them. Other than the fact each and every one of us has what’s called a ‘soul song’- a musical representation of who the person is, performed endlessly by their core, to be heard by the world or no one at all. But apart from this basic fact, scientists and other researching bodies are dead in the water when it comes to anything else our souls might be hiding. But because of this popular theory, research bodies are putting more time and effort into studying the soul as best as they can, to see if the rumors and myths on our history books hold any merit. And, if one day, we find out that they do, perhaps that breakthrough can help us solve the mystery of the Katolis Blackout once and for all. But for now, all we can continue to do is speculate. _

_ Moving on from that, the world has taken another loss today- another seemingly unconnected civilian has been snuffed out. The string of coordinated yet mysterious murders that’s been happening over the past year throughout the entire continent is still ongoing, and investigators are no closer to finding out anything about it. The victim this time was a young man from the city of Neolandia, and just like the others, his body seems to have just completely given up on him. The sudden deaths are still unexplained, but theorists have been more and more keen to connect these deaths to the strange deaths that happened in Katolis during the Blackout. Authorities and investigators can only watch and hope that this streak of attacks will stop, or they’ll get some kind of lead on it. But one thing’s clear to the masses- whoever killed all of those people in Katolis, including that strange man, he or she has some kind of power beyond our comprehension, and he or she doesn’t seem keen on stopping anytime soon.” _

“Oh, would you turn off that mindless drivel already?” A deep voice said with disgust, snapping Callum out of his trance.

Callum sighed, turning his phone off from the news report and pocketing it. He turned slightly to eye the culprit currently perched on his shoulder with distaste. “There’s nothing wrong with me checking up on what the world is saying about me, you know. I need to know if they’ve found me out at any point. I would rather not be interrupted before I can finish what I’ve started here.”

His perched companion crawled slightly forward, purplish-black eyes meeting his own.

“You’re ridiculous, Callum. Why do you care so much about staying hidden? No one could stop you even if you were tracked down by the pitiful authorities anyways. Your power is beyond anything anyone could ever hope to match. What’s so bad about taking a few extra lives along the way?”

“That’s not how I work, Aaravos.” Callum growled in frustration. “I take but I don’t take lightly. I’m just trying to build a better world for all of these oblivious people. The less the population of powered people there are, the better. I know I can’t get all of them, but we’ve made a lot of progress thus far.”

“You don’t even need to be taking these people's souls.” Aaravos chittered with amused malice. “Your soul mimic can let you use any power you can think of, and yet here you are, assimilating the powerful on the basis of making the world safer for the majority. Don’t you think you’re committing some kind of genocide here, young Callum?”

Callum froze, pulling the hood over his head even farther. “What’s it to you, anyways? You never cared about the big picture when you were in control. You killed whoever you wanted, whenever you wanted without any hesitation. What’s this plan of yours, trying to get me to feel bad about something you love watching me do?”

“What’s fun without messing about with your moral compass on the daily?” His shoulder companion chittered again, tone full of laughter.

Callum rolled his eyes with a frown. “Of course. I don’t know why I would expect anything better from the damn devil on my shoulder here. Would it kill you to just leave me alone for a few minutes for once? Maybe an hour?”

“Why would I do that?” Aaravos replied simply. “Your soul orb is under my control now. You really must give it to me for this one, slipping my soul fragment into your main source of power when you weren’t paying attention. But I mean no ill-intent, really! I just wanted to be included in this little project of yours.”

Right. Callum always said that he was in control, but given the circumstances, he didn’t really believe that. That fateful day where he’d found out about the extent of his power, he’d tried something new, something dangerous. He’d just been so distraught and angry at Aaravos for what he’d done, that he lost all sense of morality in that moment and did far worse than killing the man. With the power in him, he found his Soul Mimic ability, and assimilated Aaravos without any mercy. He’d watched the lifeless body crumple to the ground, a look of shock permanently etched into the cold face. And then he’d simply turned and left. He kept walking, and walking, for hours, until somewhere outside of any major city, he collapsed and realized what he’d done. It was then that he understood.

No soul power ever lead to good things. The world would be safer and better without them all.

He’d fallen asleep on the side of some abandoned road shortly after that realisation, and he’d awoken the next day, body aching, to find a little devilish caterpillar-looking thing on his shoulder, rousing him expectantly.

“You’d taken residence in my power source way before you knew what I was planning on doing. Stop lying, for once in your pitiful life.” Callum spat, beginning his brisk walking again. “Nothing you ever say is of any use to me. Why don’t you just keep your damn mouth shut?”

“Feisty.” Aaravos commented. “Are you feeling bummed out about your dead girlfriend again, young Callum?”

“Piss  _ OFF.”  _ Callum snapped angrily, violently flicking the caterpillar off of his shoulder. It didn’t do much, considering Aaravos’s strange new body of sorts just floated in the air next to him, trailing a bit behind, but still very much following. “Why don’t you entertain yourself elsewhere for once? Maybe go back and taunt the other soul fragments so they’ll stop mewling pitifully at me in my head. I’d be able to focus on my mission much better with some peace and quiet.”

Aaravos sighed lazily. “As you wish. But I’ll be back out soon, so don’t get too comfortable.” With that, the energy-caterpillar dived for Callum’s back, phasing through his clothes and skin and not coming back out. With the common occurrence of Aaravos going into his system, it didn’t phase Callum at all that extra energy began surging through his veins. He assumed his eyes were pitch black again.

“Finally.” Callum muttered to himself with a huff. “I’m surprised the bastard listened for once…”

With the blissful silence now dominating the surrounding air, and the crying of the other soul fragments in his head suddenly quieted down, he found his thoughts wandering back to his old life. It was pitiful how he’d ended up here, when just a year ago he was finally starting to get better. Progress meant nothing to him, it seemed. And Rayla…

Oh, he missed her more and more every day that passed. But he was doing this for her. After he took all of the soul powers from the world, he’d destroy them all. Every single last one of them. No more innocent people would die to the hands of power-hungry monsters. Perhaps that sounded a little too close to what he was doing right now, and had been doing for a whole year, but Callum wasn’t like that. He wasn’t power hungry. He wasn’t seeking to rule the world, or anything horrendous like that. He was just doing a service to the world, even if they would never know what he was doing was to protect them.

Validation didn’t matter. Callum knew the world would be better off without people like him- powered people. They’d done nothing to deserve such power, anyways. People like him shouldn’t exist- not now, not ever. He was going to make damn sure of that for a good while as well. He knew he couldn’t stop new people being born with new powers, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him.

Hell, with his immense power, perhaps he could find a way to completely remove the powered-soul mutation completely from reality.

* * *

“They’re talking about the Katolis Blackout on the news again, Claudia!”

Rayla sighed deeply. Even with the door closed, and the shower water running at full blast, she could still never escape Soren’s loud shouting from across the house. If she had to live with hearing that for another week, just one more, she would genuinely lose her mind. She could only hope and pray that the construction to rebuild her damaged house could finish up faster.

But overall, staying over at Soren and Claudia’s house wasn’t the worst. They were still her friends, and they’d practically become her own family now over the past year. None of them were really doing any better in the aftermath of the final battle, but having each other around so closely made it just a bit more bearable. Ethari was staying over at Janai’s place in the meantime, he’d come to visit daily to see her and check on the progress of the house. Ezran was still living with his Aunt Amaya, and Rayla would go over to visit the two of them as much as she could- though some days she couldn’t handle being in their house with the one person missing.

Callum had been missing for a year today, and Rayla had thought she’d be numb to it by now. She was, of course, dead wrong. It hurt so much more today than any other day of the year. None of them knew where he was, and none of them knew if he was even still alive. Rayla never wanted to entertain the thought he was dead- she didn’t know what she’d do if he really was. No one had been foolish enough to try to get Rayla to move on from him, and she never planned on doing so. He had to be out there somewhere, alive and well. The only problem was he still thought she was long dead. Of course he felt like he had no reason to come back.

“Dammit, Soren, why do you think I can ever do anything about that?!” Came Claudia’s exasperated yell of reply. “They can talk and speculate until their tongues fall off, they won’t find out that it was us the whole time!”

Rayla sighed again, tilting her head back and running a hand through her hair to wash out the remaining shampoo. As he hand moved, she groaned to herself when she mistakenly hit her horns again.

Oh yeah, and there was that whole thing.

Rayla didn’t know why anyone was surprised about her strange… growths. Right from the start, when she’d learned what had been done to revive her, she knew things weren’t going to end well. She couldn’t just lose her whole soul and make a replacement one for herself without their being some… consequences. Mainly, some mutations in her DNA. Though, if she was being quite honest, she had no idea what mutation existed in reality that would give her horns protruding from her head, while at the same time making it so she only has four fingers and toes on her hands and feet. None of it made any sense, but this was her life now.

She hated going out in public now. The stares she’d get made her feel like a freak. It’s not like they would understand, anyway. She helped save all of their asses and this was what she got as thanks. The world was a cruel mistress.

Claudia and Soren tried their best to make her feel better about it all, citing that she was still the same Rayla they knew and loved, and Soren, the lughead, insisted that her horns were cool and she could use them for self defense. She knew they meant well, but there wasn’t much that could be done to make her think this situation was a positive. Because it wasn’t.

“Hey, Rayla!” Claudia’s voice came from outside the bathroom door, followed by a loud pound. “Would it kill you to not hog the bathroom for this long? Soren’s gone and taken the other one, and I need to pee!”

Rayla huffed, rolling her eyes. “Alright, miss bossypants, I’m finishing up! Just hold your tiny bladder for a few minutes! Wouldn’t Soren be out faster than me at this rate anyways?”

“No! He gets distracted by the big wall-length mirror, you know this! He’ll be in there for the next half hour oogling at himself!”

“Well, you got me there…” Rayla mumbled in agreement, turning the running water off and stepping out, wrapping herself quickly in her towel and gathering up her clothes. She opened the door with a sour look directed at the older girl. “Go ahead, then. It’s not like I hate walking across the hallway in a towel to get to my temporary room anyway.”

Claudia only grinned at her in response to her annoyance. “Oh relax, no one’s gonna see you anyways. Love ya!” She called teasingly, slamming the door shut behind her.

Rayla sighed for what felt like the tenth time in that single hour, walking off to her room. In reality, it was Soren’s room, but they’d all agreed to let Rayla use it until her house was repaired. Soren had moved most of his stuff into the late Viren’s room, and while it was uncomfortable for everyone that he had to just deal with that, he was quick to teach himself that it didn’t matter much anymore.

As Rayla began to put her clothes back on- after she’d closed and locked her door- she felt her mind wandering back to the initial guilt. She knew it wasn’t directly her fault that their dad was dead, but it was kind of a whole chain reaction that led Aaravos to flee to Katolis, meet their dad, and pull him into this mess. As much as Viren seemed like a jerk in his life, he had still been someone’s father, someone’s son, someone. He had been someone. She wouldn’t stop feeling sorry for Claudia and Soren that both of their parents now were gone. That seemed to be a running theme all of her friends seemed to have. She wished it wasn’t.

Her phone alarm started going off, reminding her that she had a session with Gren in about half an hour. She frowned at the alarm with a heavy heart- she’d been going to these sessions for a while now, but she didn’t think she was making any real progress on anything. Gren was sweet enough, though, and he really did try. It would be rude of her to skip out on him.

One year had passed, one long, hard year. They were surviving, Rayla and the rest. But as she grabbed her purse and left to go to her meeting with Gren, she couldn’t help thinking- how much longer would that be true?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's probably a lot to unpack, sorry about that. But this is the state of things now. Yall didn't think Aaravos was actually dead, did you? Lmao bro nah he too smart for that fuckery
> 
> Anyways don't worry about my burnout. My anxiety about doing nothing productive completely overpowers it. I'm fine dfgdhfh  
> God when I finish this fic my life is going to feel so wrong isn't it
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)


	27. I Feel Like I'm Drowning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His life was fine.
> 
> So long as Aaravos wasn’t around to bother him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter sucks. Y'all gotta bear with me for a bit, my woman problems have turned my brain to soup, and I might be sick, unsure. All my friends keep yelling at me to take a break but breaks are for cOWARDS
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

Don’t get it all wrong- Callum still very much hated Aaravos with every fiber of his being. It’s just that he couldn’t do anything to get rid of him without the fear of also damaging or destroying the power source the fragmented man now calls his body. So it was with frustrated resignation that Callum just left the creature alone. Once he was done with his mission, though, then he wouldn’t mind attempting to find a way to permanently end the man once and for all. His life was fine.

So long as Aaravos wasn’t around to bother him.

Callum was perfectly fine living on the streets, more or less, stealing food and other things he needed without needing to threaten anyone or get caught. That one woman that had given him Soul Vanish was really a godsend, and the only reason he’d been able to keep up on this constant traveling for this long. For the most part, though, he didn’t pay enough attention to remember the other powers he’d taken. They weren’t important or useful to him. He had his essentials.

Another positive thing that came about when Aaravos was in the rare mood to actually leave him alone was the fact the other fragments in his head would be quiet. That was one of the worst things about his mission- those damn fragments would mewl and cry at him with their stupid, broken selves. Something about a soul no longer being whole just completely messed about with their abilities and features, as it were. Thinking back to Soren’s ability to hear the emotions of the soul, it was almost like the fragments lost their power to sing on different frequencies for different things. So every little noise that radiated from them was a mashed up cacophony of personality, emotion, and whatever else those things could convey. It was almost maddening, and all it did was make him want to finish his mission faster and with more vigor. So really, all they were doing was shooting themselves in the foot, so to speak. They wanted him to stop, but he wasn’t going to. Not until he was done.

But none of them cried or anything when Aaravos went away to join the lot. Callum didn’t care what kind of taunting or torment the vile creature was committing to get them to shut up, he only cared that they did, in fact, shut up. He didn’t want to hear their pathetic begging, especially when that was all they could really do. They were only fragments now, with their powers stripped and stolen by him. If he could find a way to get rid of those last fragments of the people he assimilated, he would do so in a heartbeat. But even though he had immense power, Aaravos had been wrong about one thing.

His power wasn’t infinite. There was a limit, in some regard, and it was the fact that he couldn’t use any of his powers on himself. Let’s just say that he’d gotten bored and particularly upset about Rayla one day, and tried to corrode himself to forget his pain about her on some level. Nothing happened. Nothing, except for Aaravos laughing at him and mocking him for trying something so stupid. That had been a pretty awful day, in the grand scheme of things. At least he’d gotten to take his anger out on another one of his targets a few hours later.

Callum didn’t enjoy killing anyone. He truly didn’t. But he truly believed that the world would be better off like this- powerless, or at least, severely stunted (He really did have to think about trying to alter reality in some way to remove the soul power mutation). Sure, people would still be violent, wage wars, do stupid things. But on those terms, everyone was on equal grounds. Access to the same weapons, without the extra smoking gun in the back. Every soul power he’d seen so far could be used in a negative way. Every single one of them. Granted, the person that power belonged to could choose never to use it as such, but that also left the option for them to one day abuse it, to break their promise. Callum was simply removing the freedom of choice.

It was better this way.

Speaking of things being better a certain way, Callum felt the extra energy leaving his system. He sighed, knowing exactly what this meant, as a certain devilish bug friend of his came almost careening out of his left palm with maniacal chitters.

“I’m back! Did you miss me, young Callum?” Aaravos taunted in a sing-song voice.

“Absolutely not.” Callum replied with a grumble, fiddling with the ends of his hood. “I would rather you stay in there as your main area of residence, and not out here. Now those damn fragments are going to start harassing me again.”

Aaravos flew quickly back to his favorite perch- Callum’s shoulder. His purplish-black eyes gazed holes into the side of Callum’s head. “They get boring after a while, you know. There’s only so much entertainment I can get out of bullying the equivalent of a coma victim.”

“Sorry, I didn’t know you’d devolved into a middle schooler when I fragmented your soul into pieces.” Callum shot back in frustration, already hearing the tell-tale wails of the damned returning.

“Do you always feel the need to abuse someone, or are you just not particularly fond of me?”

Callum sighed heavily. “What do  _ you  _ think, Aaravos? After all, what could I possibly have to hate you for? You certainly didn’t kill my girlfriend’s parents, one of her adoptive parents, and then her to end it off, no! You didn’t terrorize me and the rest of my friends for around a month or two either! You clearly did nothing wrong here!”

“I’m sensing some sarcasm.”

“Could you just quiet down for a bit if you’re going to insist on being out here, then?” Callum asked with exasperation. “We’re nearing a target, and I would rather have the air of surprise so I can just take his soul without any issues. I can’t do that if you’re constantly running your mouth.”

“Oh, Regem?” Aaravos asked with renewed interest. “The old man with the Soul Flame? He’s been evading us for months, I can’t wait to finally see the light fade from his eyes”

Callum rolled his eyes. “We’ve never even seen him in person before. We only heard rumors and ‘official statements’ from him calling me out on Facebook, of all things. I suppose becoming an internet cryptid is one of the more fun parts of this mission.”

“You would enjoy that, wouldn’t you?”

“And what’s that supposed to mean, exactly?”

“I’m referring to the fact that you are still a child, despite all of the progress you’ve made here.” Aaravos replied simply. “Look at all of what you’ve done over this year, young Callum. You’re basically half my age and you’ve done more than I ever could in twice your lifespan. And through it all, you still have time to take childish joys in the antics of your enemies.”

A pit formed to sit uncomfortably in Callum’s stomach. “I don’t want your praise. Never say such things to me again.”

“I thought you might enjoy a recap of your year. After all, today marks officially one year since you started this journey of yours. And you’ll be treating yourself to a victory lap with this target- someone who’s been bad mouthing you online for months! Isn’t revenge sweet?”

“It’s not revenge, Aaravos.” Callum growled, slowly creeping up the steps to the back porch of a seemingly random house. “It’s just business.”

“Is it now?” An unfamiliar voice called suddenly, startling the pair enough for them to jump slightly. The back door to the house swung open, revealing a glaring old man. “I knew you were real! An entity traveling the continent, killing random people, and now my work online has paid off! You’ve come to try and take me, but you won’t succeed this time!”

Callum and Aaravos both stared at the ranting man with unimpressed looks. “Were you just policing your own back door waiting for someone you didn’t even know existed?”

“I knew you existed!” Regem boomed accusingly. “And I was right, because here you are! You’ve come to take me after bad mouthing you online for months! But you’ve got another thing coming. The only one dying here today is you!”

Callum and Aaravos looked at each other, the expression of  _ ‘really?’  _ clear in their eyes. “Yeah, okay, you’re like, a seventy year old man who thinks he can beat up and murder a sixteen year old kid. Are you sure you’ll look like the good guy here?”

Regem seemed to be confused by his words. “A sixteen year old kid? You’re just a human child, not some alien or evil being from a different reality? How could you possibly have gone down such a horrible path of murder?” He shook his head, becoming even angrier than before. “It doesn’t matter what you are! You’ve taken countless lives for no reason and I’m going to stop this! You might think I’m just an old man, but I have a secret up my sleeve that’ll burn you to a crisp!”

“Your Soul Flame, yes, we know.” Callum said bluntly.

“What?! How do you know about my draconic ability?!”

“You literally boasted about it on your Facebook page while calling me a coward, multiple times. You think that ridiculous content like that doesn’t make its way around? Have you ever even heard of Reddit?”

“Is this conversation necessary, Callum?” Aaravos piped up from his shoulder, fixing his gaze on Regem, who was still standing in the doorway.

“What?! That ugly caterpillar looking thing can talk?!”

Aaravos frowned at that, or at least, the best he could as an energy bug. “Well, now that’s just rude, isn’t it? I’m far from ugly, I’ll have you know.”

“And  _ now  _ this conversation has delved into the unnecessary territory.” Callum butted in with an annoyed look.

“Oh, so you get to defend yourself against the boomer, but I can’t? I don’t see how that’s fair.”

“It’s not supposed to be fair. I still hate you, remember?”

“ENOUGH!” Regem roared angrily, finally stepping out of the door frame and into his own backyard. “Whoever and whatever the two of you are, you’re not going to be killing anyone else! It’s wretched monsters like you that need to be wiped from this world! I’ll gladly make an example of you!”

Callum watched, rather unimpressed, as Regem’s blue eyes began to glow slightly, and fire started to leak from his mouth as a strange fiery mark appeared on his neck. His lips were set in a fierce snarl, which would most likely scare anyone else, but not him. Not Callum.

“It’s funny, really.” Callum said simply, outstretching his left arm for Aaravos to crawl along. “If you’d never mentioned the fact you had your so-called Soul Flame, you never would’ve been on my hit list in the first place. Do you have a family, Sol Regem? Friends? Anyone that cares for you, or would notice that you were gone? It’s a shame that you had to run your mouth where I could see it. But you have something I want, and I’m going to get it no matter what.”

Something flashed in the older man’s eyes as he watched Callum toy around a bit with his caterpillar companion, turning his arm this way and that as Aaravos continued to crawl, before he flattened his palm, and Aaravos walked straight into it, disappearing under the layers of his skin. His humanizing green eyes faded to complete black as the corrupted soul energy started pulsating through him again.

“People like you and I… we have unnatural advantages over the innocent people of this world. You used your Soul Flame as a fear tactic, a boasting chip, and whatever else you may have mentioned it for. You even tried to use it to overpower me, even though you can’t. You aren’t deserving of an advantage like this.”

“Is that your plan, then?” Regem asked, trying to put on a brave face. “That’s your pattern. A pattern that the normal world doesn’t know exists- you’ve been targeting everyone else that has extra power like me, and like you. You would kill those like you to protect those lesser beings?”

“A pattern only those in the way of danger could only realize, yes.” Callum admitted to him. “I will give you that one. Maybe you aren’t as foolish as you’ve made yourself out to be. But you’re severely close-minded, calling innocent people things such as lesser beings. You must clearly have no one to miss you if you’re going to be throwing around labels like that.”

“I can do as I please.” Regem replied gruffly, more stray flames falling from his lips.

“You lost the right to do as you pleased the moment you made me aware of your abnormality.” Callum replied coolly, dark energy starting to crackle around his fingertips. “You do realize that you’re not going to survive this battle, correct? You’ve decided to dance with something that cannot be beaten.”

Regem let out a booming laugh, his fiery mark glowing hotter. “I am but an old man. I might have not had much longer to live anyways. Maybe you’re right, but I will do everything in my power to prove you wrong.”

* * *

  
  


He hadn’t been lying, in all honesty. But Callum was just too powerful to be taken down in any capacity. There was fire in random bits of the backyard, all from shots that had missed their target. The soul flames seemed to be putting themselves out, which was good, because now Callum didn’t have to worry about stopping a suburban fire from giving away his position. And, you know, putting innocent lives in danger. That too. But as he stood over Regem’s now lifeless body, waiting for the assimilation to settle in properly, he felt… off. Something just didn’t sit right with him about the whole thing.

It definitely didn’t help when a moment later, Aaravos came crawling out of Callum’s mouth without any warning, cackling incessantly about the shocked and horrified look on Callum’s face when he turned around in mid air to look at him.

“What the hell?!” Callum yelled angrily, trying to grab at the damned bug but failed as he dodged rather quickly.

“You did it, young Callum!” Aaravos exclaimed with a sickening type of excitement in his tone. “Happy one-year anniversary of your mission! You’re so close now, any plans on taking a victory lap after that explosive fight?”

Callum turned away from the celebrating bug floating in midair, his gaze falling on the grounded body with a frown. “I was so cold during that fight. I taunted and tormented. I turned into you, and for a moment, I really didn’t feel bad at all. I taunted him for not having any family that would miss him. That’s… horrible.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re having doubts about your mission now! We’ve come this far, you can’t just go on and give up! You’d be leaving people in the world with powers, powers they can use to hurt other people!  _ Innocent _ people, Callum.”

“I just…” He fumbled for the right words. “I’m doing this for the greater good, but this still makes me a monster, doesn’t it? I shouldn’t be enjoying taking people’s lives, even if it has to be done. That’s the level you stooped to, and I don’t want to be anywhere near your level!”

Aaravos sighed, lowering himself into the grass and taking a look at the body that was left over. “You and your morals, Callum. Don’t you know it would just trouble you less if you stopped caring so much? You’ve lost almost everything, to me, and to your actions thus far. Do you really think keeping this vague sense of morality is going to keep the rest of your little friends from hating you when you return for them? Just let go, let go of all your ridiculous hind-sight guilt, and just accept what you’re doing. The culling of a few to guarantee the safety of the rest.”

Callum squeezed his eyes shut, trying to calm down his swirling thoughts. “I keep teetering back and forth over the line, I can’t keep going like this, and those damn fragments never shut up!”

Aaravos sighed, crawling back to his ‘owner’ in a sense, floating up to his face and fixing him with a stern look. “Kid. You’ve got to relax. You have a job to do, and you’ve been doing it well. You’ve done a better job following through with your plans than I ever did with mine. Forget morals. Remember the reason you’re doing this in the first place. For the greater good, yes? Building the world in your image. You can’t slow yourself down with these silly breakdowns.”

Callum seemed to be able to focus on his enemy’s words, even if he didn’t want to. Aaravos gave him a manipulating smile. “Good. You’d be wasting your time feeling bad for these abnormalities. You’ve done your job for today, go ahead and ransack the old man’s place for supplies. If he really had no one to miss him, squatting here for a little bit won’t kill us. In the interest of keeping you focused, I’ll go back in and keep those idiot fragments quiet for you. How does that sound?”

“...Helpful.” Callum replied through gritted teeth, distrusting of how compliant and caring the bug was being to him suddenly.

“You’re welcome.” Aaravos grinned back, voice dripping with smugness. “I know you hate to hear it, but I truly and impressed with your work thus far. You’ve done well.”

Callum hissed to himself and Aaravos went back below his skin, cursing the creature for those latter words he’d spoken. He didn’t want any of Aaravos’s praise or positive thoughts about him. He wanted that damn fragment to go away, but he was smart. There was no way Callum could convince him to leave the soul orb. He was staying integrated with it for a reason. The most peace he could get was when Aaravos decided to piss off under his skin, keeping the other fragments at bay. He hated to admit it, but he needed Aaravos to keep him from going properly insane.

He always kept saying that his life was fine when Aaravos wasn’t around him, but how true was that statement really?

Callum sighed, shaking his head. Maybe he was right, in the end. These emotional turmoils he had were just slowing him down. He looked around, making sure all of the soul flames had put themselves out, before he walked into the house through the back door, closing it behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need a week long nap. At least until my woman issues go away. Shit sucks. Anyways this chapter feels like a disaster but im too brain-soup to bother to rewrite it, so here. h
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)


	28. Yami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Squatting in places was nothing new to Callum. Over the year of traveling around the continent, he had to stay as low as possible. He had money, sure, but if he used that money, then his aunt back in Katolis could track him. He couldn’t risk being tracked down and caught by his family. They wouldn’t support him one bit in his endeavors, and he couldn’t bear the thought of having them all turn against him before the end of what he needed to do. So, his money went untouched, and instead, he relied on hand-outs, theft, or squatting. None of which were necessarily moral, but he was already wanted. Aaravos had never cared about any of his consequences when he was running rampant, and Callum was taking a page out of his book, only a lot more subdued. Petty theft was nowhere near the same as straight up murdering half of a city.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter feels like an utter disaster ngl  
> Like. My attention span is just all over the place for this one I feel like. This is what bad writing looks like.... weeeee......
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

Squatting in places was nothing new to Callum. Over the year of traveling around the continent, he had to stay as low as possible. He had money, sure, but if he used that money, then his aunt back in Katolis could track him. He couldn’t risk being tracked down and caught by his family. They wouldn’t support him one bit in his endeavors, and he couldn’t bear the thought of having them all turn against him before the end of what he needed to do. So, his money went untouched, and instead, he relied on hand-outs, theft, or squatting. None of which were necessarily moral, but he was already wanted. Aaravos had never cared about any of his consequences when he was running rampant, and Callum was taking a page out of his book, only a lot more subdued. Petty theft was nowhere near the same as straight up murdering half of a city.

But after he’d gotten his hands on the ability Soul Vanish, everything got a little bit easier. That fight with the original owner of the ability had been really annoying, and he’d had to result in using Soul Mimic to level his chances out. Copying the abilities of the people he was hunting down was something he usually left as a last chance type of thing, since it made Callum feel silly about what he was doing in the first place. But like he’d said countless times- he wasn’t collecting the powers just to have them. He was going to destroy them all once he got all of his targets on his list.

His friends and family wouldn’t understand. Callum didn’t expect them to understand, either. They didn’t have this terrifying power he did, they couldn’t truly comprehend the truth that these powers needed to go. All of them.

“Young Callum, you’ve been staring at that wall for about five minutes. Would it be so problematic to keep your head out of your thoughts long enough for you to finish a simple task?” Aaravos called out to his companion from the other room.

Callum blinked, his mind returning to reality. Oh, right. He’d been in the middle of making himself something to eat with Regem’s food he left in his house. The fact he was squatting in Regem’s house right after he’d taken his soul was what distracted him in the first place. 

“I don’t see why it would be such an issue to you. You’re dead.” Callum called back with a huff, continuing to make his sandwich anyways.

“That doesn’t change the fact that the mustard on your knife has since dripped onto the floor near your shoes. Or perhaps onto your shoes. I can’t quite see from here.”

“Shit.” Callum huffed out under his breath, looking to find that Aaravos was indeed telling the truth. There was brown mustard on his shoes now, a sight for sore eyes. He’d have to clean that up in a bit. At least none had gotten on him specifically- he’d just showered and would rather not already dirty himself so soon.

“Please tell me you’re not having second thoughts again already. What happened to my amazing speech around an hour ago?” Aaravos asked, his long body floating over to the younger man.

“It’s not necessarily second thoughts, I’m just thinking back on some of the stuff we’ve gone through so far. Like a recap. It’s hitting me properly now that it’s been a year since I started all of this. I feel more tired than anything else, I think. My resolve and sanity has been decreasing ever since the start, and it just gets worse with every new fragment mewling at me inside my head. I can never get a break. There’s too much swirling around up there at all times, I feel like I’m one step away from collapsing and just… letting myself rot or something. I don’t even know if that makes sense.”

Aaravos gave him a look that he could only describe as ‘exasperated, mixed with undeserved patience’. “You’ve gotten this far, young Callum. Please do try to push all of these silly thoughts out of your head. You’re the human equivalent of God, with the power you have. If anyone’s going to know what’s best for this world, it’s you.”

Callum eyed him carefully. The worm eyed him back.

“After all this time, you still don’t have a speck of trust for me, do you?”

“Your surprise every time you ask is baffling, as well as insulting. You know what you did.”

“I did what I had to do to reach my end goals. Even if I never made it there.” Aaravos rebutted. “I could pretend all I want that my powers were unbeatable, but when it came down to it, I was more of a false God, wasn’t I? You and I are vastly different, but also the same. The things we do in our lives is simply what we see as the best outcome for the rest of this world. Those innocent, powerless people are your subjects, even if they don’t know it. Those powered people that defy you each and every turn, those are your false Gods. You’ve been dealing with them left and right, taking back the power they never deserved, and moving on to the next one. I worked so hard to try and make this world mine, but you stole it right from under me without any effort at all. Your power is unmatched and you know it. Maybe you’ll finally accept the fact of what you are on this one-year anniversary.”

“I’m not  _ God,  _ Aaravos. Don’t be ridiculous.” Callum scoffed, plating his sandwich. “I’m still just a kid. A kid who’s seen the world’s evil and has had enough.”

“Do you not believe in a God? Even with all of this power and magic running rampant through this world, the idea of a being above the rest is too far fetched for you?” Aaravos asked. “That’s the ridiculous part. Maybe you aren’t one now, but with your power, you could make yourself one at any point. Doesn’t that excite you?”

“Would you stop trying to tempt me into ridiculous things you think of on a whim already?” Callum snapped, shutting the worm down. “I’m not God, and I’m not going to become one either. That isn’t the point of my mission and you know it. You can’t change my mind on what I’m planning to do.”

Aaravos rolled his eyes the best he could. “That’s the biggest problem with you, you know. Of all the ways to end your journey, you would choose something as cowardly as that. Is it really so surprising I would try to change your mind? I’d very much like to live, you know, even if my life now is only a piece of what it once was. I know I can’t have this world anymore, but you certainly can, and you will at some point no matter what.”

Callum sighed. “This isn’t my world. I don’t want it to be, anyways. If I were to take your advice, heed your idea, then what kind of God would I be anyways? These powers that exist scattered in the world, they’re all evil. No matter what use they have, they’re unclean. What kind of being would that make me? I would rather not be the king of evil, thank you.”

“Why must you make it so hard for me to get anything done?” Aaravos complained, crawling up back to Callum’s shoulder.

“Because I dislike you, immensely. The only reason I haven’t found a way to fully get rid of you yet is because I don’t know how it would affect my power source that you are rudely holding hostage.”

“What’s a god without their demon counterpart causing them issues?”

“...You know, I’ll give you that one. You are basically a demon. All the more reason to never listen to you.”

“You’ve held your own for this long year, Callum, but I can tell your willpower is failing you. Sooner or later something is going to give, and you’re going to fall to the bottom. And I’m the only one who will be there to help you back up. You need me, whether you want to admit it or not. Your mental state isn’t strong enough to do this alone.”

Callum hissed angrily. “Why you little-!”

“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!”

Callum and Aaravos startled from their intense conversation as a stranger’s voice hollered at them from close range. They both turned to look at the kitchen’s entrance to see a woman standing there, expression absolutely pissed. The duo shot each other confused glances before returning their gazes to the angry woman.

“May we help you?” Callum asked slowly, pushing his plate away slowly.

“You… I didn’t believe my grandfather when he kept saying you were real. And now you’re here in our house. Where is he?! What did you do to him?!” She roared angrily, taking another step forward.

Callum sighed internally. He should’ve connected the dots when he’d passed by that second room an hour before when he was seeking out a bathroom to clean himself in, and a fresh change of clothes. The clothes from that room had female’s clothing.  _ So, Regem really did have someone who’d miss him. I’ll be feeling mixed emotions about this one for a good while. _

“That question is a bit redundant if you know who I am, don’t you think?” Callum replied in a monotone voice, feigning disinterest.

The woman seemed to falter just for a moment. “You… you killed him?!”

Callum sighed. “I suppose so, if you want to call it that. He had something I wanted, and he wouldn’t give it up willingly. I always have to take it by force, but these people never seem to understand that their powers are undeserved. Your grandfather was unclean.”

“Unclean?!” She spat venomously. “He was an old man, who found the actions of a murderer disgusting, and yet you would call him unclean?!”

It was at that point that Aaravos returned under Callum’s skin on his own accord, once again causing Callum’s eyes to glow pitch black with the corrupted energy. The boy sighed again, leaning his back against the counter. “You wouldn’t understand. There are secrets hidden in this world that threaten lives like yours, and I’m here to round them all up and get rid of them. It’s not my fault that those who wield these evil secrets never want to comply. I’m only trying to protect the innocent and powerless of the world.”

“You…” The woman trailed off, taking in his new features. “You’re no human, no boy. Your eyes are nothing but evil, pitch black and endless. How can you think killing people is moral? You think you’re protecting people when all you’ve done so far is take the lives of people who are loved?!”

“Power always equates to evil at some point.” Callum replied simply, letting a bit of black energy play at his fingertips. “You needn’t worry about me, in the end. Once I’ve gotten all that I want, I won’t be around to bother this world after. I only wish to create a place where no one has these unfair advantages over others. I’ve seen firsthand what horrors soul powers can cause. Everyone would be better off if there were none left to pose a threat. You wouldn’t understand.”

“I wouldn’t, huh?” The woman replied sourly, but a smug smirk began to spread across her face. Something changed in that moment, and suddenly, Callum felt all of the normal energy that would coarse through him vanish. For a moment, he thought that Aaravos had returned to the outside, but when his creepy companion didn’t return at all, he knew something wasn’t right.

“What have you done?” Callum asked, a snarl faint on his lips.

The woman’s smirk grew wider, as a strange, fiery aura appeared around her. Callum was no idiot- he’d just revealed his whole plan without any precaution to another person who held a power. He’d have to collect this one too, but with his energy seemingly gone, there wasn’t anything that he could do. Stripped of his power source, his only power that remained was Perception, and that wouldn’t do him any good here.

“It’s funny, really.” The woman drawled, stepping ever closer. “When my grandfather started talking about how he wanted to face you himself and take you out, he told me to come live with him for the time being. The two of us had a secret bond that no one else in our family accepted us for- they thought something else was going on between us, but in reality, all we did was share a powerful secret. I know what Sol Regem held, and he wasn’t the only one of our bloodline to have something to hold. You have taken him from me when he needed me the most, and for that, I’ll kill you. But it’s even more sweet that you will die powerless, to someone who’s own power has no offensive prowess.”

“So whatever your power is, it’s blocking me from being able to use my own.” Callum deduced, seemingly not nervous about the situation he was in. “Interesting… So the theory does hold true. No matter how powerful someone may be, there’s always another person out there that’s able to negate you.”

Callum pushed himself off of his leaning position, stretching his back a little and continuing. “Good to know. Collecting your undeserved power will actually give me a challenge for once. But I will still get it in the end, no matter what you try to do. I can hear your soul song, so fierce and strong. I expect a good fight from you.”

The woman snarled in disgust again. “Look at you- you seem to be younger than me, but you’re so delusional. You talk of life and death like it’s a game, a game you’ve rigged to assure your victory. You’re powerless under my hand, do you not understand this?!”

Callum gave her a hard stare. “You’ve negated my soul’s power, but what of the rest of me? It takes a mind, a body, and a spirit together to make a threat. Did you think I relied only on my spirit alone to get myself this far? Surely you didn’t. I don’t think you know me at all.”

It was then that the woman’s composure snapped, and she lunged at him, snarling all the way. Callum was quick to dodge out of the way of her attacks, but she seemed hell bent on beating him to death in the middle of her recently passed grandfather’s kitchen. Wouldn’t that be a strange headline if she really succeeded…

“I don’t think this is going to get you anywhere, you know.” Callum said in the middle of ducking under a swing. “Surely you can fight better than this? I expected more from your threat against my life.”

The woman ignored him outright and kept advancing at him, which didn’t change anything. However, the more she swung and missed, the more Callum could analyze the situation. So he couldn’t use his powers- Aaravos was incapacitated somewhere beneath his skin, and he couldn’t do anything about it so long as this woman and her fiery aura were still here. However, if he was learning anything about this new enemy, it was that she was incredibly prone to enragement. He just had to keep hitting nerves, wait for an opening, and escape.

Yes, escape. In the few minutes they’d been doing this ridiculous battle dance, Callum had decided that he wouldn’t try to collect her today. Not that he even could right now, since his powers were knocked out. He needed more time to develop a strategy to fight this woman, and since his only planning partner was subdued, he was on his own. Which meant the decision was his to make. He could escape easily if he could get a wide enough opening, that was for sure. 

“Perhaps you could spare your name? I’d like to know the title of the one who’s going to ‘strike me down’.” Callum began casually, still dodging perfectly. Her attacks were already sloppy as it was.

“Stop pretending like I won’t kill you!” She snarled, falling for the bait already. “My name is Pyrrah and I  _ will  _ be your end! I won’t let you go on to kill more innocent people you think are evil just because they have extra powers! My grandfather shared this same motivation, and I’ll carry out his wishes and avenge him all in one night!”

“Pyrrah.” Callum tested to himself, thinking. “Funny. Your grandfather held Soul Flame, and he also paved the way for a living flame to be born in you. It’s really too bad that you were his worst fire. Look at you, trying your ‘hardest’ to strike me down, but I haven’t got a single scratch on me. Do you plan to dance me to death?”

_ Be QUIET!”  _ Pyrrah screamed, lunging once more at him.

Callum smirked, side stepping out of her way quickly. Pyrrah realized too late that this had been what he was planning the whole time- with her guaranteed miss, she crashed right into the hard stone counter and crumpled. She briefly tried to regain her stance, but Callum was quick to keep her down.

“Don’t get up. You’d be better off staying face down on the floor.” Callum said bluntly, leaning his leg on top of her back. “I could take your soul and your power from you right now, and be done with this, but I’m going to decide against that. Despite your ability to negate my soul powers, you couldn’t beat me, and that’s rather disappointing. I expected a good fight from you, and you let me down. I wanted something interesting. You still have the potential to give me an interesting experience, and for that I will leave you be. Go to the hospital once I’m gone, I expect you’re going to have a nasty concussion from your trip into the stone counter. Take care of your late grandfather as well. Come find me again when your head is clear and you’ll give me a proper fight, not this ridiculous display.”

“You’re… you’re sick.” Pyrrah breathed out, muffled slightly by her position. “Your soul radiates darkness and corruption, but your mind is just as bad. Why wouldn’t you just end it now?”

Callum removed his weight from his downed enemy and shrugged. “Every collection is the same. I come to take, the target defies me, and then we have a boring fight.”

Callum left her there, walking towards the exit, before he stopped and looked over his shoulder. “I want something exciting for once. I’m near the end of my mission, perhaps I just want some fun before it’s over.”

Or, perhaps, a part of him that wanted to be stopped still existed. A single drop of morality and light in a sea of troubles and utter darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyways introducing Pyrrah, the unforseen badass of this story  
> Imagine me taking Pyrrah to these heights already. Wild. (She's in her early 20s here btw)
> 
> Anyways this chapter still feels like a disaster. Maybe it's supposed to be that way. Utter chaos for a boy who's going through utter chaos. The song for this chapter could also play into it. Everything's just shit asddsfdgfh
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)


	29. Mama's Gun Reprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The session Rayla had with Gren had been… tense, to say the least. Nothing had really gotten done, but then again, not much got done with the sessions they had in general. It had been a year, a year that could have brought the road to healing from that fateful day. There had been roadblocks at every turn- though the fault for those roadblocks was debatable. Either way, the session had left Rayla restless. Restless enough to make her decide not to go home after the session. She instead spent a while walking around the city of Katolis, trying her best not to pay attention to the stares she was getting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey do you guys remember all the way back in chapter 2 when I assigned the song "Mama's Gun" to the chapter and also said that it would server as Rayla's Soul Song for the entire story  
> Well... It's back for round two. And it's not pretty.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

The session Rayla had with Gren had been… tense, to say the least. Nothing had really gotten done, but then again, not much got done with the sessions they had in general. It had been a year, a year that could have brought the road to healing from that fateful day. There had been roadblocks at every turn- though the fault for those roadblocks was debatable. Either way, the session had left Rayla restless. Restless enough to make her decide not to go home after the session. She instead spent a while walking around the city of Katolis, trying her best not to pay attention to the stares she was getting.

Her horns, her ears, her hands- that all that people could see. All that people wanted to see of her. They didn’t see her for her eyes, or her smile, or anything else that was considered normal by the society they all lived in. She didn’t need their stares, she already knew that she didn’t fit in anymore. They didn’t have to rub it in all the damn time.

Rayla had gone to get food for herself to go on the opposite side of the city, still adamantly ignoring all the looks and stares she was getting, then went off to a more secluded area to eat in peace. She’d probably have to invest in a hood of some sort soon, there were only so many times she could pass her strange appearance off as cosplay before they noticed she was genuinely missing whole fingers.

She spent the rest of the day generally drifting around Katolis, until the sun was long gone over the horizon, and the moon was out shining her soft light on the world she knew. The day was almost over- only a few more hours of the horrid anniversary remained. If she could just last for those few more hours, then she would be in the clear for another twelve months. She hoped she wouldn’t have to live through another one of these days again, however. 

She’d been avoiding it for so long, it was only a matter of time before she ended up back there. The Midnight Forest, more specifically, her little clearing. Rayla had avoided the forest like the plague for the entire year, not even allowing herself to look in the backyard to see its borderline trees if she could so help it. But tonight, she was returning to it. The moon was clear and calming, maybe she could really do this.

“Okay Rayla. It’s now or never.” She breathed to herself somewhat nervously, setting down her bag and walking over to the oh-so familiar rock near the center of the clearing. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to block out the rest of the world. It was only her, her thoughts, have her soul there in the core of her being. She could feel it still, even though it was different. After all this time, she still hadn’t fully accepted the fact that the soul she had now wasn’t the soul she had been born with. How could one even grasp such a concept so easily in the first place?

She was getting sidetracked. She had to focus. It didn’t matter what her soul was or where it came from. The history was irrelevant at the moment. She focused more, tuning her ears into her soul’s song, trying to match with the rhythm to ultimately guide the energy out through her fingertips-

She stopped dead in shock and horror.

This was the first time she’d bothered to listen to her own soul song in such a long time. And now that she’d finally tuned in again, she heard firsthand the damage that had been done. This song… this wasn’t her song anymore. It was her soul song, but it wasn’t right. It was distorted, and it scared her. Wasn’t the physical changes enough? Did the world really have to take away her normalcy in her soul as well?

“Okay…” Rayla breathed out shakily, the strange song beating in her ears along with her heartbeat. “Maybe I can still…”

Trying desperately to ignore the rising panic that was taking over every part of her body, she closed her eyes again, focused, and willed her soul’s energy to travel out from her core and up all the way to her fingertips. If she could at least get that far, then she could start worrying about being able to push the energy out of her body fully to solidify. She kept up this mental willing for a few long seconds.

Nothing.

Rayla fell to her knees with a small whimper. There was nothing. No energy was reacting to her mental urges. She’d really lost everything when her first soul had been stolen. Even though the soul she had now was made from her own energy, the eternal surplus that she’d had before had dried up the moment Aaravos stole her life away. Her Soul Energy was gone.

The reality of her situation sunk in after a few extra seconds, and she wailed up to the sky.

* * *

Rayla really did try her best to sneak back into the house without being noticed. She was exhausted, in more than one way, and she just wanted to collapse onto her bed and sleep all of the bad feelings away if she could. Once tomorrow came about, she could pretend that the one-year anniversary of her first death and Callum’s disappearance hadn’t happened. She could pretend that maybe she was still worth something, and that she was okay.

She knew she wasn’t.

Rayla tried hitting all of the steps for sneaking back into a house without making any noise, and she would’ve gotten away with it if it weren’t for the fact the moment she walked into the living room a certain friend of hers was waiting on the couch. She froze as their eyes locked.

“Oh… hey Claudia. What are you still doing up?” Rayla asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

The older girl’s eyes scanned her up and down carefully, making Rayla even more nervous.

“You didn’t come home after your session with Gren, so we got worried.”

“We?” Rayla questioned, scanning the room quickly. “Where’s Soren?”

“Out for a late night snack run. You know how his sleep schedule has been lately. He stays up longer and wakes up later. He’ll probably be back soon, it’s no big deal.” Claudia replied calmly.

“I see. Well, if that’s all, then I’ll just go to bed then.” Rayla said, growing hopeful that she’d avoided confrontation.

She didn’t.

“Your eyes are red, Rayla.” Claudia mentioned simply. The girl’s eyes were focused and swimming with pity and concern, despite the rest of her expression being monotone.

_ Dammit.  _ “Yeah? What about it? There was no use trying to deny something that was physically present- not that Claudia would change her mind about it anyways. There was a target on Rayla’s head now, all she could do was try to avoid getting hit.

Claudia seemed to deflate a little, letting out a sigh as she shifted on the couch momentarily. “Look, Rayla. I know that you’re… not one to be open about your feelings, and I know what day it is. I can tell you want to just be left alone to sweep it all under the rug, but I know you’re hurting and bottling it up is just going to make it so much worse.”

“You’re just sounding like Gren now.” Rayla mumbled coolly, crossing her arms.  _ She wasn’t one to be open about her feelings? She used to be more willing to do such a thing before… _

“That’s because we’re trying to help, Rayla.” Claudia said carefully, almost like a plea. “Gren has his own methods based on what he practiced in his own time, but there’s one thing Soren and I have that he doesn’t. We were there with you through that entire day. We saw it all firsthand, we all lost so much in one day. We shouldn’t be pushing each other out on this. We all live together now, we have for a whole year, and yet it feels so tense all the time and I don’t understand why we’ve let it get to this. We’ve all been burned, but we can’t fear getting through it by leaning on each other.”

Rayla shook her head. “I’m fine, Clauds. Please. I’m just tired, and I want to go to bed. That’s all. Please just drop it.”

“No.” Claudia said firmly, standing up to try and block Rayla from walking off. The latter didn’t let this stop her, and soon the two of them were running up the stairs to try and beat the other to Rayla’s room before it was closed off. Rayla got there first, but she was unsuccessful in stopping Claudia from barreling in after her before she could get the door shut.

“Claudia!” Rayla snapped. “Get out of my room, I just want to sleep!”

“This technically isn’t even your room, it’s Soren’s, and no, you’re not sleeping until we talk about this!” Claudia argued back. “Dammit Rayla, just stop pushing us away! I miss you, Ezran misses you, Soren misses you, everyone does! You’ve just been so distant to the rest of us and we feel like we’ve lost you too! We know you feel bad and we want to help you but don’t you understand that your actions are hurting us too?! Or do you just not care about the rest of us anymore?!”

Claudia’s words felt like a slap to the face as Rayla spluttered trying to coordinate her thoughts enough to reply. They thought she didn’t care about them anymore? How could Claudia even say that?   
  
“Oooh, I’m sorry that I’m not allowed to try and cope on my own anymore, I didn’t realize everything had to be a team effort!” She snapped back. “Please do forgive me, miss know-it-all, because you’ll definitely understand what I’m going through in my own head right now! Because we clearly went through the same trauma!”

“We did!”

“No we  _ didn’t,  _ Claudia! That’s the biggest fucking issue that you keep trying to ignore!” Rayla shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. “You lost your dad, to Aaravos first and then you had to finish the job, and I get that’s messed up, but that is nothing like literally  _ dying and coming back as something not human!” _

“Now you’re just not making any sense!” Claudia said exasperatedly. “Not human? Rayla, you look the same, you sound the same, you are the same. At what point did you lose your humanity?!”

“Oh really?” Rayla bit out sourly, stepping closer to Claudia who had since sat on Rayla’s bed to be annoying. “What kind of human has these horns sticking out of her head? What kind of human has these ridiculous pointy ears, and only four fingers and toes on her hands and feet? What kind of human fears going out in public and being called a monster by a city she used to belong to because of her strange appearance?! What kind of human has an incomplete soul where she can’t even use her soul energy power anymore?! What kind of a human is that, Claudia, because I’d fucking love for you to tell me!”

Both of them stopped for a moment, heavy breaths being the only cause of noise in the room as they just stared at each other, taking in the words that were thrown around. Rayla felt her hold on her emotions waning with each passing second, especially now that she’d just opened up to Claudia in the heat of the moment. What were they even doing? Throwing these harsh words at each other wasn’t helping anyone.

“Rayla…” Claudia called softly, her expression once again set in one of worry and concern.

The final call of her name broke her.

“I can’t even use my soul energy anymore, Claudia!” Rayla wailed, tears starting to break out from her hold. “I can’t do it anymore! The one thing I was born with is gone, and you don’t know this either, but my soul song doesn’t even sound like it used to anymore! It’s still there, sure, but it’s wrong now! My own soul song is unfamiliar to me now! I don’t even know who or what I am anymore, but I do know that I’ll never be the Rayla you became friends with ever again! Do you not get that?! I’m not the person you met before!”

“Do you think we care for you so little that your appearance would make a difference?” Claudia asked quietly, her eyes boring holes into Rayla sadly. “I don’t care about your little additions, Rayla, you still look like you. And even if your soul song is different now, that doesn’t matter to me either. I’ve only heard it once, for a few seconds! Your soul song isn’t a dealbreaker! I didn’t become friends with you because of it, I became friends with you because you let me get to know you over time! You’ve never heard my soul song, or Soren’s for that matter, but you still became friends with us!”

A pause.

“You can try to push us away all you want, Rayla, but we aren’t going to leave on our own accord. You think that we would be that shallow to you but that’s all in your head. If any of these changes had really mattered to us, why would we let you stay here with us for an entire year? It’s not out of pity or sense of obligation. We want to help you. We want to have you around. Even if we have to say it every day, or at least until you believe it.”

There was another wave of silence that swept the small room as the two let themselves take in the words said again. Rayla took another small step forward, eyes wet and vulnerable.

“Claudia…” Rayla started, but didn’t get to finish. Her lips curled up into a pained grimace, and she all but fell into Claudia’s arms as the floodgates burst open. The younger girl crumpled like dry sand, sobs coming out in heavy heaves as she gripped Claudia’s waist like a lifeline. Claudia grimaced to herself, tightly wrapping Rayla up in her own embrace to try and give as much comfort as she could to her broken friend.

“I’m sorry. I was a bit too harsh, I should’ve been more patient. No excuses for my behavior.” Claudia said decidedly, bringing a hand up to stroke gently in between Rayla’s horns- even a year later, they were certainly an unusual sight, but they did nothing to scare Claudia away.

She knew she wouldn’t get a response out of Rayla for a while, considering how hard she was crying. But in a sick way, she was almost relieved. Even as Rayla was in so much emotional pain, it made Claudia feel just a little bit better that she wasn’t being pushed away this time. But for now, there was nothing else she could say that would do anything for the girl in her arms. Claudia just continued to pet her hair gently, using her other hand for a moment to get her phone out and quickly search for a video. She let the soft music play as she set her phone down and continued to hold Rayla as she cried until it was all out.

Claudia wasn’t sure how much time passed before Rayla’s crying ceased, and was replaced by the soft breathing of someone who’d fallen asleep- though there was a slight struggle due to the aftermath of crying that hard. Rayla’s head was laid on Claudia’s shoulder still, and in a moment of probably dumb judgement, she decided that she wouldn’t move Rayla off of her. Instead, she carefully scooted the both of them back enough, and laid down as carefully as possible on the bed. They were above the cover, but it wasn’t important. Her phone was still at the edge of the bed, playing the soft kalimba video without end. Another short amount of time passed before Claudia heard the front door open, indicating Soren was home. She waited for her brother to check the rooms, wondering where they were.

“Oh.” Soren breathed out quietly, catching the sight before him. “I missed big feelings time, didn’t I?”

“It wasn’t very pretty. Some harsh things were said from the both of us.” Claudia sighed in reply, beckoning him into the room more. “I hope we actually get somewhere with this though. I’m scared she’ll just wall herself off again tomorrow morning like nothing happened.”

Soren frowned. “Anything important said?”

“Everything was important, Soren.” Claudia said quietly with a roll of her eyes. “But she did mention a really… heavy thing. She said she can’t use her soul energy power anymore. I think she went out to the Midnight Forest earlier to do her little ritual thing Cal- um… I was told about. I think that was the last straw.”

Soren seemed to stare off for a moment, before he lowered his head. “I had a hunch that would be the case.” He admitted softly, a hint of guilt in his tone.

“You knew?”

“From the start I had an idea.” He said with a sigh. “The way her soul would sing its emotions changed. It wasn’t like how it always was.” He tried his best not to outright say ‘it wasn’t normal anymore’. “If her emotional wavelength could get distorted from an experience like that, I suspected that something was different with her soul overall.”

“Yeah…” Claudia agreed glumly. “It makes sense. You can’t just die and come back on a hastily made soul without issues. No one’s ever come back from death like this before anyways. All of this is new territory, we have no idea what’s in her future.” She said, her eyes looking back to Rayla, who was still fast asleep on her side.

“Have we become her third set of parents in a way?” Soren asked jokingly.

“We don’t need to be her parents to care for her.” Claudia pushed firmly. “It’s late. We can talk about this in the morning. I think I’m gonna stay with Rayla here. Could you put my phone on the side table? And just let it keep playing that video until it ends. It helps with sleep.”

Soren nodded, doing as Claudia asked. “You owe me five bucks if Rayla wakes up freaking out tomorrow that she slept with you the whole night.”

“You owe me ten if she doesn’t.”

“Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted some platonic Raydia apparently. Literally 90% of the crap I write for this story is projection from my life. I just wanna be cared for in the way Claudia cares for Rayla... deadass
> 
> We're almost 3/5ths through the story folks
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)


	30. Simple Pleasures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waking up to the sun casting soft light into the room through the thin curtains, the first thing Rayla noticed is that she felt so much lighter than she had in a long time. Her body had always been so tense and walled up for these struggle months, so cut off that Gren could barely ever make a dent in them, but all it took was one honest conversation with her friends to tear all of that away and give all of that toxic buildup a way out. She wasn’t saying that Gren was bad at his job- he really did try to help her through her problems, but she’d never let him in at any level that he could actually do anything positive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi im still alive. Fall semester's started so updates will probably slow down again. Sorree uwu
> 
> Also before you prepare yourself for angst, this is a fluff chapter. I know, what a shock! But I wanted to show that even in ongoing negative situations, you can still have a good day when you're with your family <3
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

Waking up to the sun casting soft light into the room through the thin curtains, the first thing Rayla noticed is that she felt so much lighter than she had in a long time. Her body had always been so tense and walled up for these struggle months, so cut off that Gren could barely ever make a dent in them, but all it took was one honest conversation with her friends to tear all of that away and give all of that toxic buildup a way out. She wasn’t saying that Gren was bad at his job- he really did try to help her through her problems, but she’d never let him in at any level that he could actually do anything positive. All of those things she’d admitted to Claudia the night before, they applied to everyone in her life, but hearing the reassurance from one of the main people she was pushing away because of her stupid fears made it seem easier to admit it all to everyone else. She supposed she’d have to talk to Ethari, as well as Ezran, Zym, Amaya, everyone really.

The second thing she noticed, after a moment of self-reflection, was that there was something different about her bed. She was facing up to stare at the ceiling, but she hadn’t actually opened her eyes properly yet. She could tell that this was her bed, her borrowed bed, but half of her body was lying on something that didn’t feel at all like a bed. It seemed to be moving slightly as well.

_ Wait a minute. _

Rayla’s eyes shot open and quickly looked to her left side, where she found Claudia’s sleeping body resting next to her- or rather, resting under her, because Rayla’s own body was halfway on top of the older girl. She found her cheeks starting to heat up in utter embarrassment, and her first thought was to rocket launch off the bed and have an internal screaming episode, but then she stopped. Her thoughts returned to the night before, and she realized that after her crying session, she didn’t remember anything else happening. Meaning she must have fallen asleep in Claudia’s embrace, and the older girl had decided to stay with her the entire night just in case. Despite the embarrassment still biting at her cheeks, she felt her heart soften just a little bit at the idea. Claudia was certainly hitting it out of the park showing Rayla that she really did care.

Rayla blinked, slowly pulling her phone from her pocket and checking the time. It was still rather early in the morning, and she really didn’t have anything to do. There was no session with Gren today, and it's not like she’d ever had to worry about school ever since she moved here. She supposed she could go visit Ethari as he stayed at Janai’s, or go across the street to play with Ezran and chat with Amaya (if she was even home). But for now, she didn’t have to worry about any of that. It was still early, and her friend-turned-family was here with her just to give her extra comfort.

Rayla sighed softly, burying her embarrassment before she settled back down half-snuggled up against the still sleeping Claudia. After all of the heart-clenching, anxiety-inducing thoughts of how they wouldn’t accept her anymore, she deserved this quiet morning for just a little longer.

She wondered briefly if she could get away with calling Claudia her sister.

* * *

“Soren owes me ten bucks but he’s being a sore loser and not forking it over.”

“I thought I was buying you lunch, you leech!” Soren argued back.

Rayla walked in the middle of the two siblings, shaking her head with mild amusement as they bickered in public. The morning had stayed lazy for the entirety of its duration, before the three of them had decided to all go out for lunch. The pair had told her about the bet from last night, which she’d rolled her eyes at but didn’t argue with- it was just their silly sibling relationship at play. She’d never had any siblings herself, but living and being with Claudia and Soren all the time made her feel like they were her adopted brother and sister- even if she’d been so distant. Maybe today would be the day she admitted this to them. After all, if she was correct in her assumption, they’d be overjoyed to hear it.

“You guys know we could just go to the Sunforge Diner, right? Janai would probably feed us for free, since she likes to pretend she adopted the three of us.” Rayla suggested with a smirk.

“Uh, no, because then Soren would get away with not giving me my deserved ten bucks! He either forks it over in cash or buys me lunch. I know where he lives.” Claudia shot back.

“We live in the same house, Claudia. Of course you know where I live. We’re siblings, for god’s sake.” Soren sighed. “I would rather swing by Janai’s place. Nothing wrong with going to see some more friends.”

“I’d probably feel more safe there anyways.” Rayla mumbled quietly. “The more friendly faces, the less uncomfortable I feel from the inevitable stares. No one in this city likes my horns.”

Claudia made a dangerous looking expression. “Hmm. Right. Okay. Note to self: remember to fight the entire city of Katolis for being rude. Add that to my bucket list.”

“Oh god. Please don’t tell me one day I’m going to wake up and see Claudia’s mugshot on the news with the headline ‘deranged teenager tries to pick fights with everyone who passes her by in the street’.”

“Well if that’s what it takes for all of these idiots to get off you, then I’ll do it!” Claudia argued seriously. “You don’t deserve any of their judgmental stares. You had no choice in the matter, and they have no right to parade their opinions out in public about strangers. They’ve no idea what we’ve done to protect them, either. You did what you felt was right. Plus, we still think your horns are awesome.”

“Pfft. You’re not the one who has to deal with them.” Rayla teased, lightly bumping her head against Claudia’s shoulder. “You try remembering every day to put your shirt on carefully, lest you snag it and cause yourself a nasty headache. And I’ve got these ridiculous pointy ears to match, and you two arguing all the time makes them hurt.”

“Oh my god.” Soren exclaimed suddenly, stopping dead in his tracks. “We’re all stupid!”

“Well, that’s nothing new to you, Soren.” Claudia sniped before he could continue.

Soren shot her an unamused glare, before continuing anyways. “We’ve had a whole year to process these changes and we didn’t even connect the dots. Rayla’s turned into an elf!”

Rayla opened her mouth to argue, but her words immediately died on her tongue as Soren’s exclamation sunk in. She made a face. “Well, you’ve got me there…”

“Rayla’s now a living fairytale. Imagine the pranks we could pull.”

“Pretty sure most of the city’s seen me and my horns by now, Clauds.”

“Rayla being a cryptid would be cooler, just saying.”

“How does that make any sense, Soren?!”

Rayla sighed, shaking her head with another amused smile as the two siblings went off on each other again. Despite what it might look like to other people, it was strangely refreshing to see a sibling bond like this. It certainly gave her something else to focus on, instead of the gloomy rain cloud that trailed after her for the longest time. 

“Guys, you know we’ve walked past the Sunforge Diner now, right?” Rayla interjected innocently.

“We aren’t going there, I’m not letting Soren get away with not paying me off!” Claudia declared with a puffed chest. “Don’t worry about the stares from the idiots that exist all around us, Soren and I will protect you. If I see anyone trying to look at you that way I’ll start throwing hands.”

“Huh. So perhaps Claudia’s mugshot will be seen sooner than I thought.” Rayla mused, her gaze turning to Soren.

He, in turn, shook his head dramatically. “Oh, what a shame. My own sister, soon to be arrested for assault!”

Claudia rolled her eyes with a huff. “You two are ridiculous. Joke all you want, that doesn’t change the fact that I’m genuinely willing to go to jail for the two of you. I probably will at some point, considering the shenanigans you two might get up to.”

“Are you insinuating that we’d actively break the law?” Soren gasped in fake horror.

“Haven’t we all technically already done that in some way?” Claudia countered. “Like… with the stuff we had to do in the battle a year back. Didn’t we all technically commit murder?”

Silence swept the three of them.

“Maybe we shouldn’t say that out loud.” Rayla provided helpfully after a moment.

“Yeah, let’s not!” Claudia agreed quickly, shaking the thought off. “Imagine the three of us as a ragtag team of shitty criminals though. Soren’s got his power of hearing soul emotions, which honestly I can’t think of an offensive use for, you got me, who’s still a combat amateur, and then Rayla, a bad-ass warrior elf. Yes, we’ve decided that you’re an elf now. A human elf. This is canon.”

Rayla snorted. “I don’t think a ‘human elf’ makes any sense. But you’re right, the two of you would be awful criminals. I’m the only one with powerful skill here.”

Soren pouted. “I could use my soul power offensively! Like, read their emotions, tell them I know exactly what they’re feeling, and play mind games or something.”

“Soren gets a gun held to his head and he just looks the enemy dead in the eye, says ‘your soul screams with hesitation, you won’t pull the trigger’, and just wins.”

“Exactly!”

“Or they’ll blow you up until you’re dead!” Rayla said in mock-happiness.

“Ha ha, very funny. Let’s just go and get some lunch before our morbid topics of conversation get us in trouble.”

“Can we go to that smoothie place then? I’m clearly the leader of this disaster criminals team, so I say where we should go.” Rayla asked.

Claudia and Soren looked at her with different amused looks, but they nodded nonetheless. The gleeful grin on the youngest’s face was more than worth it.

* * *

After the three got their respective smoothies as their choice of lunch, the trio decided to go check out the newly opened arcade on the opposite side of the city. Scrounging together some money, they bought themselves a card to share to use to play the games. However, about three minutes into their experience, Soren found a machine that would spell doom for their interest in the other games.

It was a claw machine full of mini rubber ducks.

“We’re really going to use all of our credits on this one machine, aren’t we?” Claudia asked, her eyes not leaving the machine in front of her.

“Absolutely.” Soren replied curtly, controlling the claw’s stick with more concentration than the two girls had ever seen him put out.

“Is this necessary though?” Rayla asked to continue, but there was no argument in her tone.

“Getting ourselves an army of little ducks? This is the most necessary thing I’ve ever seen in my life.” Soren replied seriously, scoring another duck with the claw. “Whoever programmed this machine is an idiot. If you don’t get any ducks, it just lets you go over and over until you get one!”

“You’ve had rounds where you’ve gotten ducks and it still let you retry though.” Rayla pointed out.

“Like I said, whoever programmed this machine did a bad job! We’re going to get so many ducks. Mark my words.”

“We’re going to need a bag to carry them all home.” Claudia stated bluntly.

“So we’ll get a bag! I don’t hear the two of you arguing against using all of our credits on ducks!”

“Soren, look at that one in the corner. It’s a french fry duck. Get it.”

“On it!”

* * *

“What would you think the souls of these ducks would sound like, if they, yknow, had souls?”

Leave it to either Claudia or Soren to ask nonsensical, random questions out of the blue. True to their word, they had, in fact, used all of their arcade credits on the duck claw machine, and now they were walking home with a plastic bag full of about 67 different mini ducks. Some were the same designs, but others were one-of-a-kind in their new collection. Despite their day of doing just normal teenage things, they always found a way to insert the concept of souls into the conversations.

“I bet they’d sound happy because we saved them from that awful glass box and now we’re giving them a new home.” Claudia said matter-of-factly.

“Or they’re terrified because a group of three idiots kidnapped them from the rest of their friends and family.” Rayla supplied with a mischievous grin on her face as she watched the siblings groan and roll their eyes.

“Dang it, Rayla, can’t we just have nice things for once?” Claudia whined.

“Not even into the next life. It’s my job to provide the awful humor at every possible point. You signed up for this the moment you let me live in your house.”

“Man, if we’d known this sooner, that would have been the dealbreaker.” Soren jabbed.

Rayla rolled her eyes with a snort, wrapping her arms around both of their shoulders. “Come on guys, let’s just go home and get these dumb ducks sorted. Also, do you think we could invite Ethari over later, just to have him around for a bit? I bet I could convince him to make us some Moonberry Surprise.”

“Sure! I’m sure he’d be glad to see you too.”

* * *

They spent a good hour sorting all of their duck prizes into different sections, based on what their designs were based off of, and then they all set about putting all of their ducks in random places in the house. It served no real purpose to do this, but they found it funny at the time, hyped up on all the fun they’d had that day. Ethari came over around a half hour later, and the four of them had a nice time chatting about sweet nothings. For once, Rayla’s day was calm and relaxed, not filled with gut-wrenching emotions. She could breathe for the first time in a long time, and she’d forgotten how good it felt to just be without anything bringing her down.

She knew that Soren and Claudia couldn’t replace Callum in the way that he’d given her things, but she also knew that they weren’t looking to become Callum replacements. Thinking about her missing boyfriend still sent twinges through her heart, but somehow, they were more bearable today than they usually were. The atmosphere around her blanketed her in a safe cocoon of good vibes, and while they couldn’t stop the looming issues that still plagued the trio, but it made their impact severely less hurtful. They’d managed to give her a day where soul powers and past trauma barely mattered, and she couldn’t be more grateful for it.

“Hey, guys?” Rayla asked quietly, as the three of them sat together on the living room couch, some god awful movie blasting on the TV. “I’m sorry for exploding last night. And I made it all about me, I didn’t even have the courtesy to listen to any pent up feelings about what you had to do to your father. I’m really sorry.”

“Well, I technically wasn’t even there in the first place.” Soren said with an awkward cough. “But yeah, don’t worry about it. Trauma’s twisted us all. It’s only logical to expect some bumpy arguments between the three of us. As long as we can make up and move past it, then we should be fine.”

Claudia nodded in agreement. “Yeah. You didn’t make it all about yourself, I did. I specifically focused on you as much as I could because I knew you needed the outlet more than I did. Soren and I have talked countless times about our father, and how we… how I… you know. We didn’t think it was fair to you to dump our own venting on top of the trauma you were already dealing with.”

Rayla felt her eyes starting to grow watery. Showing weakness had been her biggest enemy for this past year, but she was slowly learning to let go of that. She sniffled once, before pulling the two of them just a bit closer.

“You two are the best adopted brother and sister a girl could ask for.”

* * *

Ethari smiled to himself as the third movie playing finally got to its end credits, before he stood up to grab the remote. In the darkness of night, the TV screen lit up the precious sight that lay before him. Soren, Claudia, and Rayla, all asleep on the couch, leaning on each other as their soft breaths pushed their chests to rise and fall, and Rayla was safely nestled in the middle.

Ethari mused to himself quietly about how upbeat Rayla had seemed today- he had no real idea of what had happened to bring about this change, but he was certainly grateful for it. Seeing his adopted daughter be so miserable every day for the past year had hurt him so, but every time he tried to talk, she didn’t let him in. He’d almost given up hope on being able to see her smile again.

But as the four of them talked quietly in the living room, each holding a plate of Moonberry Surprise, as the TV continued to play movies that they ended up talking over, he’d seen the light in her eyes and was so relieved to know that it had returned. As much as he missed living in the same house as Rayla, it seemed that living with her two friends had finally changed something for the better.

Soren and Claudia were good kids. He trusted them. They were clearly able to do something for her that he couldn’t, and while that stung a little, he was still more glad that the thunderstorm seems to have finally lifted. She deserved to heal.

Ethari kept smiling to himself, as he quietly went upstairs, found a blanket big enough to cover all three of them, and came back down to lay it across the sleeping teenagers. Without another word, he gave a tiny nod to himself, before quietly slipping out the front door to return to Janai’s.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 100k words to this fic
> 
> 3/5ths done with this ridiculous story lads. Next chapter we return to Callum though. And he's gonna... uh. Make a dire fucking mistake. RIP him
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (I'm posting this fic there too)


	31. Screamer Reprise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On some days, really dull and vulnerable days, Callum wonders to himself just how he ended up here. Cars zoomed past him every few seconds as he walked along the edge of the highway, but the noise of them passing by meant nothing to him. They didn’t even really register as being there. He noticed that on days like these, the crying of his stolen soul fragments seemed to quiet down, even if it was just a little bit. Callum would take any amount of toning them down he could get. They liked it when he actually started thinking. That concept would only last for a few hours at most, though. Aaravos was always keen on getting him to focus back on his mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I'm not dead. I just went and nose-dived into Minecraft Youtuber hell for about a month. I had to force myself back into my TDP vibe so I could get this done sfdgfhgjhkj I HAVE NO IDEA IF THIS CHAPTER IS ANY GOOD OR NOT FAIR WARNING
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

On some days, really dull and vulnerable days, Callum wonders to himself just how he ended up here. Cars zoomed past him every few seconds as he walked along the edge of the highway, but the noise of them passing by meant nothing to him. They didn’t even really register as being there. He noticed that on days like these, the crying of his stolen soul fragments seemed to quiet down, even if it was just a little bit. Callum would take any amount of toning them down he could get. They liked it when he actually started thinking. That concept would only last for a few hours at most, though. Aaravos was always keen on getting him to focus back on his mission.

Right now, Callum was in a state that Aaravos liked to call ‘autopilot’. His body would move on its own, but his mind was miles away, maybe even world away. His body knew the destination, but consciously, he wasn’t even thinking about reality. Getting sucked into his own mind was never fun for him, but it seemed to happen every once and awhile. He’d come to expect and accept it by now.

The topics of wonder were new to him this time, though. Perhaps it was because his journey was closer to being over than closer to it just starting. Closing thoughts seemed to be more and more common as the time passed.

There was once a time where he didn’t understand why the fragments of those Aaravos took didn’t come screaming and crying at him once he’d taken Aaravos himself. A long time ago, he assumed it was because they wouldn’t want to talk to him with the path he’d put himself on- he hadn’t been sure if he could’ve continued on this path if they had. But now, it was more clear to him that they simply couldn’t reach him at all. Whether this meant that they were fully gone, or still trapped inside Aaravos’s head somewhere, Callum was sure that going through assimilation twice couldn’t have been good for the already tiny fragments left. Going through that second assimilation might have fragmented those tiny pieces so far, that they were essentially gone anyways.

Maybe that was for the better.

If they were really gone at this point, then it was certainly better than living a fractured life inside the mind of their captor. Wherever they could have ended up, if there even was life after death, then he hoped they were happier. He missed Rayla more than anything, but there was nothing he could really do to bring her back. Either way, on some level of reality, that just meant that she was with her parents and Runaan, right? Her ending wasn’t so horrible if she got to return to her real family. She deserved to see them again.

Callum could only hope that when he was finished here in this life, she would be waiting for him. Though he didn’t expect her to be very happy with him based on what he’d been doing. He’d just have to explain his reasons, and by then, he’d have all the time in the world. He just hoped Aaravos wouldn’t be able to follow.

The point was, she had to be somewhere, right? It wasn’t too outlandish to think that there was something after the end of a body. The world had singing souls as a normal occurrence, after all. Most people still considered this concept to be magic on some level. Rayla had to be out there somewhere. He’d return to her soon enough.

Once he stopped being trapped in his own mind.

* * *

Rayla was definitely still out there somewhere, just not in the way she knew Callum thought. Claudia had told her the moment they had gotten some time to calm down that Callum had run off before she’d been able to tell him she wasn’t actually dead. So he was out there, somewhere, travelling on his own, thinking she was still dead. A year of this, all on his own… she could only think about how his mind would start trying to justify that he could still see her again. If only he knew that he could do so, right now, if he’d just come home.

Rayla knew that some of the others had already given up on Callum ever coming back. They made sure not to talk about it around her, but she knew better. A year had passed and he hadn’t even bothered to use any of his money. It was left untouched to this day- they didn’t believe that he could survive on his own for that long without currency. They didn’t believe he could survive on his own for that long in general. After all, they’d reported him missing ages ago, and no one on the entire continent had reported a sighting of him. It was pretty obvious as to why they would think he was…

But Rayla wouldn’t fall to that. She kept her hope that he was still out there somewhere. Just like there was no concrete proof he was still out there, there was no concrete proof he was dead. That was all she really needed to feel justified to hold onto her hopes.

She sighed, curling herself up into an even tighter ball as she sat in the middle of her bed. She had her head tucked behind her knees as her lilac eyes moved to stare out the window her borrowed room had. It was gray out there, gloomy, with the faintest hints of rain beginning to hit the glass with faint splat noises. She just wished Callum would come home already, if he really was still alive out there. No matter how advanced this world was, living on the streets all by yourself was far from easy, and with a mental state as unstable as his was, she wasn’t even sure if he’d had the motivation to try and survive for this whole year.

Rayla felt her shoulders sag as a distant rumble of thunder met her ears. She wondered, wherever Callum was now, if it was raining for him too.

* * *

Callum’s legs were beginning to ache as the pouring rain chilled his bones to the core while he walked. He didn’t have the simplest things, like umbrellas, or ponchos, at his fingertips anymore, but what he lacked in physical objects, he found a way to make up for in stolen soul powers. Something new he’d just discovered was that no pitiful thunderstorm could put out a soul flame. The only two things that could were the wielder, or death. The latter one had no chance in hell. As long as he held a soul flame in his hands, he would survive the cold. He’d been through way worse multiple times over, anyways.

Still, he wished that this thunderstorm didn’t have to be so useless. Any amount of loud thunder that could block out the screaming of the fragments would have been very much appreciated, but all of the thunder that he could hear was more on the quiet side- distant, like it was raining somewhere else.

“Can’t we find a better, more covered side of a highway to trudge along?” Aaravos complained sourly from his perch on Callum’s shoulder. “I know you don’t care about your personal health, but I don’t want to tempt fate and get a cold as a fragmented soul creature.”

“You’re very much welcome to let go of my soul orb and go find yourself a shelter from the rain, Aaravos.” Callum muttered darkly, still walking along. “That’s your option. Pick your poison.”

“Well, obviously, I’m going to stay here. My control of your power source is the only bargaining chip I have. Don’t think I haven’t noticed all this time. You’ve been so keen to get rid of me, but you don’t really do anything about it other than throwing mean words my way, and that’s never going to work for you. Why don’t you really try to get rid of me, hmm?”

Callum growled as a louder crack of thunder clapped in the sky. “Despite all of the reasons why I should find a way to tear that fragment that is your soul into so many pieces you’d never come back, there is a use for you. You can actually make those other fragments shut up for a time, even if you only do so rarely. If you didn’t have that use, I would’ve snuffed you out at the soonest moment I could.”

Aaravos grinned at him the best a creature of pieces could. “I see… using a person only for a tiny sum of their parts. You’ve learned a lot from me, even if you don’t want to admit it. While you may not be doing what I’d advise you to do with your power, it’s certainly better than doing nothing. Perhaps I do have another bargaining chip to toy with.”

“What are you playing at?” Callum questioned in a low tone, slowing to a stop.

“Oh, nothing. Don’t mind the silly words of a monster that comes from children’s fairy tales.” Aaravos replied simply, refusing to give in.

Callum sighed, hanging his head a bit as he continued to walk down the long, wet road. The rain showed no signs of letting up anytime soon, and unless Callum somehow found a person with a soul power that could control the weather, there was nothing he could do about it. Aaravos was just playing more mind games. He didn’t have to listen to that stupid bug. What he did with his powers was his own business. No one else’s.

The pair of them fell into a silence, and Callum found that his thoughts were traveling back, once again, to his old life that he’d left behind a year prior. Though his thoughts didn’t provide him painful memories of Rayla this time- instead, it brought up everyone else he’d failed the moment Aaravos had stolen Rayla’s soul. Claudia, Soren, Ethari, his aunt Amaya, Ezran, Janai, Gren, everyone. Everyone who had tried to be there for him, everyone who had wanted to see him get better, everyone who still had no clue where he was, or if he was even alive.

His legs shook slightly as he thought back on each of them. Claudia and Soren- their dad had been killed. He remembered seeing Viren’s name in the list of casualties that tied to the strange few days that Katolis went dark. He wasn’t sure who had been the one to end the zombified man’s life, but he knew it couldn’t have been easy for them. Not that their dad had been really alive at that point to begin with- but the idea was still the same. Were they living alone now, in that same house on the same street? Callum couldn’t quite remember what had happened to the pair’s mother now, but he knew that she probably hadn’t come back to them if it was possible. He wondered if the life insurance money was enough for the two to live. Just another set of lives ruined by soul powers.

He thought about Amaya, and his little baby brother. Ezran wasn’t stupid- far from it. But Callum didn’t know for sure if Ezran could understand the choice he’d made when he left. He was pretty sure that none of his friends and family could or would understand if they knew. They would be so quick to judge, to place him in the wrong. Maybe they were right to.

But that wouldn’t stop him.

“Would you stop thinking about your pathetic friends already?” Aaravos snapped with a huff. “You’re making your little fragments go crazy.”

Callum snapped out of his thoughts with a confused grunt. “What?” Though as soon as his deep thoughts faded away, he heard what the bug was talking about. The fragments in his mind were going bonkers, screaming and crying over and over, though he couldn’t decipher the reason why. “Oh. I guess they are.”

Aaravos looked at him hard for a moment. “You didn’t even notice for once.” He observed with a thoughtful tone. “Even when I come out and say that I finally have another piece on the chess board, your ridiculous mind and soul automatically give you a way out of having to rely on me. You could just zone out like that whenever you wanted to stop hearing your fragments. You don’t need me for that.”

Callum groaned. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to. You just want to hear me say that I do need you. I won’t say it directly. However… you have a stronger method of getting them to be quiet.”

Aaravos seemed to preen gleefully. “Ah, you continue to learn. Every time you say that you don’t listen to me and then proceed to do something I would do makes me so happy. You’re my little apprentice after all!”

Callum scoffed. “Sicko. I’m not your apprentice. Have you forgotten who’s in charge here? I’m the one with all of these soul powers, and I happen to not be a fragment of a human being unlike one of us. You have to constantly stick by my side while you possess my soul orb like a damn demon. You’re all bark and no bite.”

“Yes, yes, you keep saying that. You shouldn’t underestimate me like this, you know. Even though the powers that I held in my full life never affected you, I’m living a half life connected to you now. Be glad I haven’t gone exploring this new territory. There are probably so many things I could do to turn the tides of power in a heartbeat.”

“Your threats don’t scare me.” Callum shot down easily. “You know what my final plan is when I’m done collecting soul powers. Nothing you could do to me now would be worse than that.”

“The coward’s way out.” Aaravos argued.

“The only way out.” Callum rebutted.

“You’re hopeless.” Aaravos grumbled, shifting his caterpillar-like body from one of Callum’s shoulders to the other. The rain was coming down at an angle now, and the other shoulder provided more shielding. “Why do you keep walking this morally gray middle ground? You’ve been killing people, no matter for what reason, but you still try to justify it as a good thing to yourself. That’s the difference between you and me, Callum. I never lied to myself. I knew what I was doing and I simply had the power to not care. Look how close I got to succeeding- and before you start saying that I still failed in the end, that’s not what I’m talking about. I didn’t waste my time caring about the opinions of other people and that’s how I got so far. The reason for my failure had nothing to do with my lack of compassion. It was all luck of the universe. And now you’re here, following your own plan, but you struggle every other day to continue because you’re weak minded. If I hadn’t been here to keep you going, you would have quit a long time ago. Just stop caring, Callum.”

Callum stopped again, turning to look Aaravos dead in the eyes. There was a beat of silence, and then-

“And that’s why one of us has ended up as a monster while the other still has his soul.”

Another wave of silence fell over the pair as Callum continued walking. The rain still poured down as hard as ever, and the occasional cracks of thunder were beginning to get louder and closer. Callum was always proud of the rare time he could stun his bug companion into silence, but it never lasted as long as he would like.

“I will admit, that was a good comeback. But that doesn’t change my point.”

“Your point is trash and so are you. How many times do I have to say I don’t wanna listen to any of the words that come out of your mouth?” Callum snapped.

“If you don’t want to listen to me, then I don’t have to listen to you. Simple as that.”

Callum groaned in frustration again. Some days he really didn’t understand how he made it this far when this fragmented excuse for a creature annoyed him with nonsensical conversations like these so often. Hopefully it wouldn’t have to last much longer. If his information was correct, he was definitely past the halfway mark of what he wanted to achieve. Possibly even three-fourths of the way done.

Soon, the two of them found high shadows beginning to loom over their bodies as Callum once again came to a stop. His legs ached, his head throbbed, and the fragments were at it again, crying and screaming away without end. He straightened up the best he could, looking up to the tall buildings in the near distance. They were finally at the outskirts of Lux Aurea.

However, there was one problem Callum had failed to account for.

Aaravos began laughing hysterically on his shoulder as Callum’s facial expression turned to one of utter dismay. He’d never actually been to Lux Aurea before, and because of this, he absolutely underestimated just how big the city before him would be.

  
“It’s… so big.” Callum puffed out in sheer disbelief.

“Oh, the look on your face” Aaravos cried with mirth as he detached from the boy’s shoulder to float tauntingly in front of him. “Of course it’s big! It’s Lux Aurea! Even I’ve been here before, and I knew exactly what was coming! Oh, the amount of extra work you’re going to have to do just to find the one target we have here! You get no easy outs!”

Callum’s jaw clenched tightly as the devil bug continued to cackle in front of him.  _ Throb.  _ The rain continued to pour down on him, pelting him with cold flecks that only served to chill his bones even more.  _ Throb.  _ The fragments in his head refused to let up.  _ Throb.  _ The amount of extra searching that lay ahead of him did no favors to help his growing headache.  _ Throb.  _ The incessant cackling of the demon on his shoulder.

_ THROB. _

Without warning, Callum's hand shot out and grabbed Aaravos’s caterpillar body by the neck, tightly. The worm made a small noise of surprise, as his cackles died down and his eyes focused back on his host.

“And just what do you think you’re doing?” The worm questioned.

Callum snarled- the nerve of this little insect! He squeezed his grip tighter. It didn’t do much, considering air didn’t seem to be a thing the bug needed anymore.

“Something I should have done ages ago.” Callum barked harshly.

Aaravos eyed him sternly. “You don’t want to try this, Callum. It’s not going to end well for you.” He warned.

“Shut it!” Callum ordered. The bug’s black black began to react to his hand slightly as Callum focused. He was tired of all the abuse he had to endure while traveling with this wretched thing. He should have tried exorcising Aaravos from his soul orb the moment he knew he was there.

“Callum.” Aaravos spoke again, tone somewhat frantic. “This is your last warning.”

“Scared, little bug?” Callum asked maliciously, only speeding up the process. “This is the end for you. Get out. NOW!”

Pure, white light was beginning to spread into Aaravos’s body like a tumor. But before anything else could happen, there was an overpowering flash of dark light. Callum yelped and tried to cover his eyes, but he noticed that his hand seemed to be stuck against Aaravos’s body.

That was the last thing he remembered.

* * *

The city of Lux Aurea was known for its looming shadows. The big buildings stood tall and proud, casting intimidating shadowy figures onto the land below. This was all normal.

But what wasn’t normal was the strange, alien-like shadow that began to tower over some of the smaller buildings of the city. How strange that it seemed to be deeper and darker than the shadows of the buildings themselves.

That’s because it wasn’t a shadow at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got really active on Twitter because that's where most of the MCYT community seems to be. Can't think my head's full of boys ASDFDGFHG
> 
> But yeah oh boy a cliffhanger??? Who would have guessed. Sym never likes to give her readers a break
> 
> TUMBLR: https://symphoenae.tumblr.com/ (Ask me stuff about this fic's lore here!)


	32. Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Callum couldn’t move. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t do anything. He didn’t know where he was, but remembered the events prior before he found himself in this inky blackness. He tried to move his body, but he soon found that his body also seems to have disappeared on him. There was nothing there to tell him that he was even real.
> 
> This was… new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize. I didn't mean for the cliff hanger to be this long. I got... distracted. For a month. Whoops.
> 
> I'm a bit out of my element now, it's been a good while since I wrote for this AU. I'm really sorry if this chapter sounds stupid or is badly written. I know I pull a lot of shit out of my ass when explaining the possibility of everything I put in here.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

Callum couldn’t move. He couldn’t see, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t do anything. He didn’t know where he was, but remembered the events prior before he found himself in this inky blackness. He tried to move his body, but he soon found that his body also seems to have disappeared on him. There was nothing there to tell him that he was even real.

This was… new.

“Looks like mister idiot’s finally come back to consciousness.” A voice said. It was familiar, but Callum couldn’t quite place it.

“That’s a bit mean, isn’t it?” Another voice said in reply. Another  _ familiar  _ voice.

Where was he?

“Yeah, sorry to interrupt here, but I actually have no idea what’s going on. Where am I? And I would also like to know why you two voices sound so familiar.” Callum said, but he noticed that he didn’t feel a mouth he could use to even speak. This was just getting weirder and weirder.

“Wow. Mister high and mighty doesn’t even remember us. You’d think you’d at least have the decency to remember the voices of the people you killed in cold blood.” The first one spoke harshly.

_ Wait a minute. _

“I shouldn’t be here.” Callum said suddenly, just as the situation clicked. “How did I even get here?! This shouldn’t be possible!”

There were two small, flickering lights in front of him now. They looked weak, even in pain, maybe. Even in this basic state of physical existence, he could tell that they weren’t very approving of him.

“Yes, well, you were never one to follow the rules of what’s possible and what’s not. Nothing about you should have been possible in the first place, but here we all are!” The first voice snapped again. “You should be thankful that we even broke away from the rest of your victims to keep them from completely ruining any chances you have of taking your body back. The fragment of that Sol Regem man has been causing massive problems.”

Taking his body back? How did Aaravos even switch their positions the way he did?! There shouldn’t have been any way a soul fragment could assume control of a body that already had a fully functioning soul in its core! This was a whole can of worms that needed explaining…

“Sol Regem himself is the massive problem honestly.” The second fragment added on, tone sour. “And I hate to talk badly about anyone, but he’s basically got the other fragments thinking he’s some messiah or whatnot. Aaravos may have been pretending to be kind to you out there in the real world, but in here he’s been talking about some really sinister plans. Plans that Sol Regem picked up on and intends to try to use for himself.”

Callum stalled. “Okay, okay. Back up here. I don’t remember your voices. What were your names again? I don’t want to have to refer to you as fragments one and two if we’re going to interact for a good amount of time.”

“I’m Lili. You took me away about six months ago. My power wasn’t even dangerous, but you didn’t care.” The first fragment- now Lili, spoke with a quiver. “And here I've sat, a piece in your head, wondering if my family ever found out what happened to me. But with the rate you’re going at, they’ll never catch up to you.”

“And I’m Darryl.” The other spoke up once Lili was finished. “I had the Soul Cloak ability, remember? I could disguise myself in a cloak of black energy and take a different form. You found me on the rumors of a white-eyed demon walking around, and you took me away from my family, friends, and my dogs too.” If a fragment could frown, Darryl would be doing so right now. “My best friend will never get to know what happened to me… no one will.”

Callum felt… off. His thoughts seemed clearer while being in here than they ever were when he was actually in control of his body. He could vaguely remember the faces of these two fragments used to be. It occurred to him in this moment that they used to  _ be  _ people, and he’d turned them into only glowing embers of the fire they once were. Was… was he starting to feel bad?

“Why?” Callum asked suddenly. “Why would you two help me then? I took everything from you. Why wouldn’t you just leave me to my fate?”

“Because we know what Aaravos wants to do.” Lili replied simply, but grimly. “Taking over your body gave him everything he wanted. If we let you stay a soul in here like us, then you would be no more than another power he has the ability to call on now. All of the collecting you’ve done, all these powers, because he switched places with you, and the control is now his, all of our powers are available to him. You’re the only one that can kick him out of the driver’s seat again.”

Callum thought about this. “Why wouldn’t you just let Sol Regem do it?”

“Sol Regem is an idiot.” Darryl pointed out. “He did not have, and still doesn’t have, the same kind of energy connection you do to Aaravos. That soul orb he inhabits, that was yours originally. It was given to you to be used by you, and it connected to you a long time ago. None of us know how Aaravos managed to put himself in the middle of that, but he did. He’s always had the ability to overtake your control like that, but he needed a proper opening. When you were trying to kick him out of your soul orb, your own soul opened up a pathway. You were pouring your soul into the soul orb in an attempt to push him out, but you didn’t stop to think that you were leaving your core open to outside forces. He slipped in right before you could fully push him out.”

“Exactly.” Lili continued. “Following Sol Regem would just end in a waste of time. God knows what he would try to do to you, probably end you somehow. As far as Darryl and I are concerned, you’re better than Aaravos, even if you’re both still terrible.”

Callum wasn’t sure what to think. The reality of the situation was slowly sinking in, and despite his thoughts being clearer and sharper than they’d ever been in the past year, he still couldn’t focus properly. The fragments of Lili and Darryl seemed to notice this, somehow.

“Callum, listen. We might still be enemies, but Aaravos has free reign of your body and the powers you’ve taken from us. Can’t you tell what he’s doing? Or have you not connected enough yet?”

Callum made a strangled noise. “I can’t see anything. I can only see you two, nothing else, everything else is an empty void. What is he doing?”

Darryl seemed to sigh. “He’s… he’s a monster, Callum. I don’t know how he’s doing some of the things we can see him doing, but… he’s twisted your body into something horrendous. And he’s destroying Lux Aurea as we speak.”

* * *

The rain was no match for the blazing embers that littered the once pristine city of Lux Aurea. Screams and wails echoed around the ruined streets, along with the honking of car alarms, security alarms of battered apartment complexes and business offices, and the crackling of those previous fires that now ate away at the crumbling structures.

This was more than Aaravos could have ever wanted. As much as Callum was a powerful being all on his own, he was still incredibly foolish. It had taken a good long while to play his cards right, but it had finally played back into his favor and now here he was- a giant worm monster, tearing one of the world’s biggest cities to the ground. This was a good start to his return. He didn’t so much as care about ruling over the world and its people anymore- not when he had all of these new soul powers to play with. Why be a ruler when you could be a god?

There had been some original attempts from the city’s police force to try and stop him, but they had soon realized they were way in over their head trying to fight him. Aaravos wasn’t quite sure if he’d managed to kill any of them, everyone was so tiny now compared to him. It was more fun to focus on toppling over stray buildings that got in his way. It was also fun to learn that the stolen Soul Flame power could be used as a dragon’s breath. A giant, purple energy worm that spewed fire from its mouth, levelling an entire city? That would certainly make the worldwide news. Maybe that was the quickest way to inform all of these puny life forms about their new resident god.

If only he had arms…

* * *

“...No.” Callum choked out. “No, no he can’t do that! How is he doing that?!”

“You’re asking us?” Lili responded incredulously. “We can barely understand how you function, much less that… thing. We just need to focus on getting you to the core of your body and kicking him out. That’s all we can do to stop him, and the more time we waste floating around in this corner of the soul plane, the more time he has out there to do whatever the hell he wants!”

“Language…” Darryl mumbled. “But Lili is right. We have to get you out of here. We don’t even know if having a full soul in this realm of consciousness is going to cause any bad effects to you anyways.”

Callum tried to breathe, only to remember that he was just a soul now. “I feel… my thoughts feel clearer. Being here, talking to you guys... knowing that you’re still aware on this level, and I did this to you… I’m really no better than him.”

“Oh, so now you’re having regrets? Only after a year of killing innocent people because you were mad at the world for taking your girlfriend away?” Lili snapped. “Just because the love of your life died doesn’t mean you get to decide the rest of us people with soul powers have to die as well! Get over yourself!”

“Lili, I don’t know if this is the best time for this right now!” Darryl interrupted with a hint of nervousness in his voice. “We have to get him out of here, remember?”

“We can float and talk.” Lili snapped back, silencing the other fragment immediately. “And I don’t care if we’re currently ‘siding’ with Callum for the time being! He still deserves to get yelled at! He killed us, remember? Or did you casually just forget that we’re all stuck here because some idiot teenager sucked out our souls because the world wronged him one too many times?!”

Callum didn’t understand. If his thoughts could be so clear in here, why were they always so muddled and in the dirt when he was out there? He should know better than this, shouldn’t he? Why could he never think straight when he was in control?

Was he ever in control?

“I’m sorry.” It was hollow and meant nothing, but he knew that.

“Sorry doesn’t cut it.” Lili replied harshly. “When you get back out there, and I don’t care how you choose to do this, but you better find a way to fix all of the shit you’ve caused. Bring us back. None of us fragments in here deserved this fate and you know it. You’ve just chosen to ignore your own conscious this whole time by pretending your conscious was just us and our voices- adding on faux bias that ‘of course they would think that’. You chose this path and you’re too scared of being chewed out by people with sense to go back on your ‘mission’. You’re a coward.”

Callum sighed. “I know.”

The three of them traveled along the plane of reality in silence for a bit, before Darryl’s fragment spoke up out of the blue.

“I wonder if this was Aaravos’s doing this whole time.” He wondered aloud.

“What are you on about this time?” Lili questioned, tone full of annoyance.

“Well… Callum’s been saying that his thoughts are clearer in here. We know how Aaravos works… he’s manipulative, but maybe he isn’t just manipulating with his words. We don’t know a lot about how his being in the soul orb could… corrupt Callum. Maybe there’s another layer of this issue. Maybe Aaravos was poisoning his mind this entire time, making him unable to think clearly. But it’s only a possibility.”

“That’s!” Lili started, only to cut herself off. “Dammit, that actually makes sense. Wouldn’t put it past that thing to do something like that either. Ugh! Callum, come on, you gotta know what your doing is wrong now, right? On the off chance Darryl is right about this, do you think you could hold onto that feeling?”

Callum was silent. “I don’t know.”

Lili sighed. “Seriously? You’ve got power beyond belief but you’re uncertain about being able to ignore the mind poison of a  _ bug?” _

“You’re acting like I’m an expert on soul stuff here!” Callum protested. “I’m very clearly not, because if I was then I wouldn’t have ended up here in the first place! Aaravos wouldn’t be in control out there, rampaging around Lux Aurea as some Godzilla rip-off, okay?! I know I’ve done awful things this entire year but I am not in any position to know how to fix everything! Lay off!”

Darryl sighed as the two began to argue and yell at each other again. This was helping no one. “Listen, Callum. You’re young but you’ve proven yourself to be strong. If there is any mind poisoning happening between you and Aaravos out there, all we’re asking is that you try to fight it with everything you can. You have to understand we just want our lives back.”

Callum went quiet again. “I know, I know. I just can’t promise anything. How am I supposed to fight something when I don’t even know what to look for?”

“Well, if you start thinking about how this mission of yours is your right, maybe then you should see the red flag!” Lili countered. “How many of your thoughts this past year have even been your own? You don’t even know! But now you have an opportunity to realize what's your own thought and what isn’t. Being in here has reminded you of how your thoughts usually sound, right? So when you get back out there, if you start thinking things that don’t sound like you, then fight them the hell off! We need you to replace your current ‘mission’ with a new one: and that’s finding a way to reverse all of the assimilating you did. There has to be a way, right? You just gotta find it!”

“You’re putting an awful lot of faith in the person who literally did this to you.” Callum said with a hint of a frown. “But… I guess I’ll try my best. I still can’t promise anything.”

Lili grumbled. “I suppose that’s about as good as we’re going to get out of you. I wish we could get actual confirmation, but apparently you don’t have as much control over the situation as we thought. This isn’t going to be easy… and there isn’t much us fragments can do in here but yell and cry at you from this plane of consciousness. Even then you never listen.”

“Sorry to interrupt again, but we’re here.” Darryl said.

“It just looks like more blackness to me. I can’t see anything.” Callum said with a hint of panic.

“Oh. You still can see anything else? Strange… there’s a light here. It’s usually a white color, but it’s shining with a disgusting purple now. That’s probably Aaravos just messing around with your body. Can you at least feel that damn thing’s energy?” Lili asked.

Callum had to focus for a moment, but Lili was right; he could feel a strong, dark energy radiating out from in front of him. It didn’t belong there. Almost as if someone has lit a fire in his mind, his voice snarled in disgust and anger and he focused again and his own soul began to glow rapidly. His energy clashed with the intruder at the core, and he began to feel something giving way.

“Good luck.” Darryl mumbled, and then there was nothing again.

* * *

There was rain hitting him in the face softly now. There was the smell of smoke, the glow of fire assaulting his closed eyelids, and a strange soreness on the right side of his body.

His body…

He was back. He was back in control, finally, but there was something wrong. He was supposed to do something, he made an uncertain promise to someone, and… it was fading away. There was a dark, thick fog rolling back into his head, and he couldn’t remember what he’d been doing while Aaravos had been in control anymore. What had he said he was going to do?!

“Aw, you couldn’t have let me have my fun for just a few more minutes?” A familiar voice complained with glee.

“You.” Callum spat venomously, sitting up and catching sight of Aaravos. “You tricked me! You kicked me out of my own body and you- you destroyed Lux Aurea with me! You had no right to do any of that!”

Aaravos tilted his head innocently. “To be fair, I didn’t try to warn you. You just didn’t listen to me. You never do. I was only trying to help.”

“Help?!” Callum roared, pointing his sore arm out to jab at the bug threateningly. “You probably ended up killing my target! What if that soul power was really helpful! You don’t care about me completing my mission, you just want to mess with me! I’m done. I’m absolutely… tired… of you…”

Callum’s angry ranting came to a slow stop as his eyes fell on his arm. His sore right arm, that should be a normal color of skin and smooth. It wasn’t.

Callum yelped and fell back, almost as if he was trying to escape his own body as his eyes frantically scanned over every part of his body that felt sore and strange. A good portion of his right side was swallowed by purple corruption- covered in wispy branches that moved slightly in the wind. Callum scared horrified into a rain puddle below him, finding that the right side of his face had been consumed by this corruption as well- a few wispy branches protruded from his cheek and his right eye was permanently completely black. And throughout all of this, Lux Aurea burned around him. The monster.

“Do you like your new look, young Callum?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you know who Darryl is a reference to, no you don't <3
> 
> Anyways... I'll try not to vanish for another month this time. Minecraft YouTube took up my hyperfixation. Oops.... lmao
> 
> FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @Symphoenae!!! I'M REALLY ACTIVE THERE AND I'D LOVE TO TALK TO SOME OF YALL <3


	33. It's Just a Burning Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Strange. It was almost as if he’d felt bad about his actions for a moment there. Why did the fogginess in his brain hurt so much when he thought about that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm currently halfway to a mental breakdown because my dumbass sat through all 6 1/2 hours of Everywhere At The End Of Time yesterday and for some reason the existential crisis is only hitting me now! It's an amazing experience but it's really fucking dark! Which is why I'm using the first song in the album for this chapter's song counterpart!
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC9wgrXlDI-LM3gNAeDMj6YvohZvLZMbQ (Playlist link uwu)  
> (Please for the love of GOD listen to the song that matches the chapter title when reading it's so much better)

Callum felt sick, in every possible way. His head was foggy and dizzy, his whole body hurt, and his eyes throbbed as if he couldn’t accept what he was seeing. Never in a million years did he think anything like this could happen, but then again, he’d been breaking the impossibilities of reality for the past year or so. But this… this was cruel, this was sick. His body was supposed to be the one safe place he had, and Aaravos had stripped him of that too. The malicious bug made of soul energy had infected him with this… disease. This mold, almost, this purple and black skin that rippled and stuck up in a few places. Half of his face was covered in the stuff! He had to be able to undo this, Callum could barely stand to look at himself on a good day, but the memory of what he’s doing and what he’s become would never stop following him now.

Strange. It was almost as if he’d felt bad about his actions for a moment there. Why did the fogginess in his brain hurt so much when he thought about that?

Aaravos had been talking to him. Something about his ‘new look’, Callum thinks, but he can barely think straight enough to remember to keep breathing. The rain is pelting down on his head and back as he stays hunched over the puddle, looking at the monstrous reflection that stared back at him. He wanted to vomit, almost. Thinking about wanting to vomit just makes him remember he’d been barely eating much of anything during the trip to Lux Aurea…

Lux Aurea.

Callum’s head snapped up suddenly, his mis-matched eyes landing on the sight before him with utter horror. The city that stood so luxurious and tall, proud of its size and prestige, was reduced to flames and rubble. Perhaps a stray building was intact, here and there, but most of it was gone. Car and house alarms were blaring from all sorts of directions, with no end to the cacophony in sight. He forced his eyes to skim quickly over the few shapes on the ground that looked too similar to human bodies, trapped under rubble and debris.

He couldn’t stay here. Not with how he now looked, anyone with a brain would associate him with the giant rampaging worm monster that had caused all of this mess. Whatever plans he had here, he had to put them on hold for a while. For all Callum knew, the person he’d been looking for was already dead thanks to Aaravos’s antics. Without another word, Callum dragged himself to his feet and began to walk briskly in one direction- any direction- that would take him away from there. He needed a new plan, but he could still barely think. He’d use his powers to conceal himself if really necessary- if he could get out of the city lines without needing to use any of his powers, that would be the best option. He wasn’t sure how well using his powers would go for the time being, considering his state of being.

“Nothing?” Aaravos questioned softly, curious, as the bug trailed behind the boy. “Not a single word about what I’ve done? Are you not horrified? You should be more grateful for my little gift, if I hadn’t spent a good portion of energy rewriting you to look like that while I was in control, I could’ve been halfway to the next city or town by now. I took away from my own priority to give you a present!”

Callum shook his head, opting to ignore the bug. He knew Aaravos was just trying to get even more under his skin, relentless as ever. He was too busy thinking, or at least trying to, about his future moves. There was nothing he could do to undo all of Aaravos’s ‘fun’ as he called it. They just had to leave and pick up intel for a new target. But now that Callum looked the way he did, he had to factor in extra precautions. There was no way he could pass off as innocent or even human at this point, so he would need to find a new cloak for one. He didn’t plan on using Soul Vanish every time a car passed him by on the street. He considered looting the ruined buildings to try and find something, anything, that could cover up his… mold, but with the state of most of the buildings, anything that could have helped him was most likely too damaged to be deemed worth it.

“Your thoughts are so loud, young Callum. You can barely walk as it is, why don’t we stay here for a while? Maybe the rescue team that’s sure to come will help us out.” Aaravos suggested.

Callum stopped. “And what makes you think they would help a floating worm creature who looks almost exactly like the thing that destroyed the city and an ugly looking kid who has some sort of fungus that also resembles the thing that destroyed the city? I’d rather not get arrested for your stupid actions.”

“These are strange and scary times for everyone in the world, Callum.” Aaravos advised slowly. “Just tell them you barely dodged the monster’s attack, but for the price of your life you were poisoned by its strange magic. Who are they to question that? You look injured enough, and you’re exhausted. If they’re good people as you say, I don’t think they would turn down a hurt kid.”

“I don’t need help from people.” Callum argued stubbornly. “I don’t want to stay here. I don’t want to be seen. You’ve gone and killed people with my own body, and you’ve violated me in a way I didn’t even know was possible. Do you really think you have any right to offer me advice like you care about me at all?! You never have! And I don’t want you to care about me anyways! Stop trying to sweet talk me like I matter to you!”

Aaravos floated up to his molded shoulder with a sigh. “You think I only care about myself, don’t you? Maybe that used to be true when I was still properly alive, but you’ve shown me things I could have never thought were possible. I wanted control of the world with my two measly soul powers, but you… you could become a God and do whatever you wanted with reality. Is it so surprising that I would be interested in that? That I’d love to see where you could take yourself with those powers? I know you thirst so much for my erasure, but I care enough about you to lower myself to the status of your little battery just so I can see you carve your path.”

“Shut up.” Callum hissed venomously. “I don’t want to hear any of this. And stop it with the God talk, I told you I’m not going to try anything that extreme. We’re ending this conversation, and I don’t want to hear any more words about how you ‘care’ about me. You don’t. You care about manipulating me into what you want. I’m not having it.”

Aaravos stared at him for a moment, his bug-form mouth seemed to be pulled in a slight frown as the creature regarded his companion. Strangely, the malicious thing decided to listen to Callum for once, and said no more. All the creature decided to do was crawl down to Callum’s left palm and sink through the skin there, opting to give the distraught boy some alone time.

It didn’t make things much better for him though.

Callum was still freaking out, to say the least. He couldn’t tell at all what direction he was supposed to go to get out of this ruined mess, and the rain was starting to come down even harder. He knew that forces and relief efforts from other places would be coming soon, if they weren’t already here.

Spots flew in his vision as he furiously blinked to try and get them to go away. He really couldn’t tell if they were hallucinations, or little bits of debris falling to the ground still. It really was a war zone now. He never should have come here. He could have avoided all of this happening. Now there were definitely innocent people injured and even dead because he failed to keep Aaravos in his place. Stupid! He had one job, to take the soul powers away to  _ protect  _ the innocent people, not hurt them!

_ “You.” _

Callum stumbled, snapping suddenly out of his thoughts at the sound of a snarling voice- one he’d sworn he’d heard before, but he couldn’t remember with the fog in his head.

“Um…” He mumbled out, blinking furiously again, trying to get his stupid vision to stop being blurry.

“I should have known it was you. Look what you’ve done here! You said you wanted to protect people, but you turn around and destroy the biggest city on the planet like it’s nothing! How can you even justify yourself?!”

Ah, Pyrrah had somehow tracked him down again. Annoying.

“Didn’t you go to the hospital? What are you even doing here, anyways? You couldn’t have gotten here that fast.” Callum said, deflecting.

“You-” Pyrrah growled. “That’s what you care about? Me being able to track your putrid, disgusting malice you call soul energy? Not the fact that you’ve literally gone back on everything you said you wanted to do all of this for?!”

Callum frowned. “Wasn’t me. You think I wanted this? Look at my corrupted body!” He snarled, pointing furiously at himself. “You think I’d want to look like this?! I made a mistake, okay! I know! I underestimated what kind of powers my stupid companion bug had and he kicked me out of control of my own body! You should be thankful I even got control back in the first place, because he very much could still be the big bug monster rampaging and destroying cities right now! But no, I was the one who clearly did this! I may not be doing anything you think is right or valid, but you should at least put a little respect on my name on the fact that I would never personally want to hurt powerless people!”

Pyrrah rolled her eyes angrily. “You’re talking nonsense. I don’t care if it was your little bug pal who ‘took control’ or whatever excuse you’re going to throw at me. This, ALL OF THIS!” She gestured wildly around them. “IS YOUR FAULT!”

Callum sighed. “I don’t have time for this. You can either try to fight me right now or you can go away. You’re not going to win against me no matter what. Why don’t you go and do something productive and join the relief effort?”

Pyrrah opened her mouth to retort, but was caught incredibly off guard when Callum suddenly rushed at her and swept the leg, causing her to fall to the ground. A bit of rubble dug into her unprotected skin as he stood over her, glaring.

“Leave me alone, Pyrrah. Don’t try to be the hero this time. Be humane. Help the people who need it.”

She protested, trying to get up and deny him, but Callum quashed that rebellious attempt by placing his foot firmly on her cheek and glaring harder.

“You will listen to me this time, or so help me, I will spend the last of my energy dragging your corpse across the jagged ground. Nothing has gone my way today and I won’t hesitate to start using brute force to get things going my way, starting with removing your thorn in my side right here and right now.”

Pyrrah didn’t move.

Callum removed his boot from her face, allowing her to stand up as he sighed. “I find you fun, you know. A challenge. Something interesting to toy with every once and awhile. Something refreshing in the sea of monotonous predictability. The only reason why I haven’t decided to assimilate you yet is because your power might be worth keeping in use in this world. You have the power to nullify the use of other powers, even mine. You’d do well as a peace maker when I’m gone.”

Pyrrah looked at him, half horrified, half confused. He chuckled lowly.

“Look at me like that all you want. You know that my plan is to rid this world of as many soul powers as I can. It would defeat the purpose if I stuck around in this life with all of the power I collected. Though maybe I’ll come across a way to genetically destroy the powers if I have to. There’s so many things I haven’t discovered yet about the magic that surrounds a soul. But if all else fails, well… You know what I plan to do.” He straightened his posture the best he could with his aching body, setting off in a random direction again. “See you next time, then! I’m expecting a great sparring session the next time we catch up, Pyrrah.”

Callum left her in the dust before she could even try to respond to his last sentence. As his footsteps made crunching noises, stepping on stray bits of building and other rubble, he felt Aaravos crawling out of his palm again. That didn’t last very long.

“Do you… not remember anything that happened when I was in control?” Aaravos asked, his voice strangely tentative.

Callum sighed, already feeling the grips of unruly frustration coming back. “No. I know that something happened in there, because I didn’t just suddenly regain control out of nowhere. I know I had to have booted you out of the control seat somehow. But everything else is complete static.”

Aaravos nodded slowly. “I see. Very interesting…”

Callum rolled his eyes, taking a few more steps forward before his legs suddenly gave out. Surprisingly enough, Aaravos rushed under him to lessen the fall. Why on Earth was this horrible bug trying to be nice to him now?

“Kid? Young Callum? You said we couldn’t stay here, don’t give up now. At least make it to the outskirts of the ruins. It wouldn’t be very comfortable to take a nap in this destruction.”

“Why do you even care?” Callum bit out, pushing himself up to a wobbly stand again. “You gain nothing from being nice to me. I’m not an idiot. You could turn around and become the nicest creature in the galaxy for the rest of your life and I still wouldn’t like or trust you.”

Aaravos rolled his eyes. “You’re an idiot. We can’t stay here anymore, because you sent Pyrrah to be a part of the relief effort, and if you think she’s not going to warn the other humans about you, then you’re actually braindead. Pass out all you want when we’re out of enemy territory. Unless you do want to get arrested today.”

Dammit, he hadn’t thought about that. Aaravos was right, even if he hated to admit it. But his body ached and screamed in protest, he could barely move at this point. He took another step, nearly falling over in the process as the exhaustion and pain kept getting stronger.

Aaravos sighed. “Seriously? Oh for goodness’ sake. Fine. Listen, you’re not gonna trust me, and I know that, but I actually don’t want to stay here any longer now either. So if you’re going to pass out on me like this, I might as well tell you that I get an energy and power boost when you’re unconscious. It’s not enough to allow me to do much of anything, other than it allows me to make my form larger. Just this once, I’ll be nice and carry you out of here if you can’t go on.”

Callum stared at the bug incredulously. “What?”

“I said what I said.” The bug replied simply, floating to the ground. “It’s the least I can do since I got to have my fun. I still want to see you complete your mission, after all. It wouldn’t do me any good to let you stay here and get caught.”

Callum really didn’t want to leave it up to his malicious companion, but his body had the popular vote. He collapsed again, without much resistance this time. Aaravos simply watched him carefully, seemingly serious about his proposal.

“Why did you ask about if I remembered anything while I was out of control, anyways?” Callum slurred, vision blurring as his body shut down against his will.

“Oh, no real reason.” The bug replied softly, crawling a bit closer as Callum’s eyes closed.

“It’s just a burning memory.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know, it's under my 3000 word minimum, but it didn't feel right to try and force myself to keep going for a little bit more on this one. This chapter is less important on the words and more important on the song counterpart. The song really does more than I could ever write.
> 
> FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER @Symphoenae!!! I'm super active there and I do post some cool art! I also talk way too much about Minecraft Youtubers BUT I still do art!!! Lol


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